If Pictures Could Talk
by cncgrad02
Summary: Zac finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time... especially when that place and time don't include Vanessa
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

The two brothers stood on the balcony of their massive suite in Hawaii looking out at the ocean beneath them. They had enjoyed a day on the beach surfing and just goofing off together and the Maui Film Festival was set to begin in two hours. Now it was time to start getting ready for the award ceremony- the main reason for this vacation. The two younger Efron men had arrived in Maui two days ago and Zac made sure that he showed his brother all of the sights that he and Vanessa loved so much. It was Vanessa's idea for Zac to take Dylan to Hawaii with him this time.

"_Baby, I've got an idea for Dylan's graduation gift," she said to him as they sat up in bed one night. It was a month prior to the youngest Efron's high school graduation and they had yet to come up with the perfect gift for him. Several ideas had been tossed around, but none had seemed quite right for Zac's brother._

"_What's that?" he asked with interest, looking up at her from the laptop computer that he had opened. He'd taken it upon himself to search the consumer reports about a decent, affordable car that they could give his eighteen year old brother. He and Vanessa were planning on going up to Arroyo Grande the next weekend to talk to his parents about their gift ideas and get their final approval. _

"_Take him to Hawaii with you when you go next month," she told him. Zac just stared at her, uncertain as to whether he heard her correctly or not. Zac noticed the packet of papers she held in her lap that she had been studying. Taking a closer look he could tell that it was the packet full of information related to 'Rent' and also noticed that the particular page his long time girlfriend was currently studying was the rehearsal schedule and her day planner was open next to her with a pencil in her hand. _

"_Take him to Hawaii? But I thought you were going?" _

"_Well, I can, but in looking at the rehearsal schedule, I'm not going to be able to be there the whole time with you," she told him, pointing to the page in front of her. "The award ceremony is on that Wednesday, right?" she asked, looking at Zac for confirmation._

"_Yeah," he told her. "June 16. Why? What's the schedule look like?"_

"_I've got rehearsals on that Tuesday until 4:00, so I could get, like, a 6:00 flight or something like that and be there late Tuesday night. I'm off Wednesday, so I'd be able to go to the ceremony, but I have to be back by 2:00 on Thursday, so I'd have to get an early morning flight back to LA," she informed him, shrugging her shoulders. "As much as I'd like to be there with you, by your side-"_

"_It would be a hard few days. You'd be going non-stop." The two of them just looked at each other in the eyes, each trying to decide what the right course of action would be. Finally Zac sighed, admitting defeat. "That makes sense. You're right; Dylan would love Hawaii. I hate to think of taking someone other than you, though. I mean, Hawaii is-"_

"_It's us," she interrupted, bringing a hand up to cup his cheek and stroking his face with her thumb lovingly._

"_Yeah. I'm going to miss you so much while I'm there. But you're right."_

"_Hey, by the time I'm done with 'Rent', you'll be done with promos for 'Charlie St. Cloud'. We can go then. Maybe for your birthday if not sooner."_

"_That'd be great," he said, leaning in to meet her lips halfway, sealing their deal with a slow, sensual kiss. And it was decided- the following weekend, they would sit down with David and Starla and work out all of the details before presenting a plane ticket to his brother._

And that's why the two brothers were currently sharing a vacation in Hawaii. Not only was Dylan enjoying his first visit to the Pacific Islands, but the brothers were also enjoying some Efron bonding time before the youngest started his upcoming adventure as a college freshman.

At the sound of the familiar ring tone coming from the coffee table inside the suite, Dylan turned to face his older brother and mentor.

"Dude, she's calling you again?" he asked with a smirk. "Isn't that like the fiftieth time today?"

"Shut the hell up, man!" Zac said with a chuckle as he made his way inside. "One day, dude, you'll get this attention too and when you do, I'll accept your admission of being wrong," he said to his brother over his shoulder, before taking a swig from the water bottle he held in his hands and set it down on the coffee table, trading it for his iphone that sat there. "Hey, Babe," he said.

"Oh, Zaccy, I miss you so much!" Dylan called out from the background in an overly exaggerated impression of a high pitched female voice. "Whatever will I do without you?"

"_Is he giving you a hard time again?"_ Vanessa asked.

"More than you'll ever know," he told her as he picked up a pillow from the nearby couch and threw it at his brother. Vanessa heard Dylan's laughter from the other end of the phone.

"I'm getting in the shower while you two have your phone sex," Dylan said, hoping to embarrass Zac. Instead, the plan backfired.

"Alright man, whatever. Just make sure you drown while you're in there. That way I won't have to worry about you walking in on anything," Zac told him while the sweetest giggle he's ever heard echoed in his ear.

"_Zac!"_ she reprimanded.

"What?" he asked.

"_Be nice to him!"_

"Van, I am being too nice to him. You can only be so nice to Dylan before your head explodes with niceness. How's you day been so far?" he asked as Dylan came back out into the living room and overheard his last question.

"The same way it was going the first five times today when you asked her that question," Dylan said, picking up his own phone that he'd left out in the kitchen earlier in the day.

"Van, I'll be right back. I've got to go kill my brother. If I get arrested, just tell Mom and Dad that it was self defense."

"Alright, man, your point is made. I'm gone now," he said with a roll of his blue eyes that matched his brother's. "Bye, Nessa!" he yelled out to the young woman on the other end of the line that he'd gotten so close to over the past several years.

When the commotion calmed down and Zac was finally left alone with some privacy, he picked up his water and carried it and the phone back out on to the balcony and sat down in one of the chairs.

"_What kind of trouble have you two caused today?"_

"Who said we caused trouble?" he asked. When he was met with silence, he continued. "Okay, fine. You're right. Dylan does seem to cause a lot of trouble, doesn't he?"

"_Zac-"_ she started warningly.

"Okay. Alright. In all seriousness, though, we didn't really do anything today. We just want back down to the beach and did some more surfing."

"_Any more pictures I should know about?" _she asked seductively.

"Baby, you can't do that to me right now. As much as I hate myself for saying that, unfortunately, I've only got about forty-five minutes or so and need to get in the shower in a few minutes."

"_Okay, fine,"_ she said reluctantly. _"Are your clothes ready?"_

"Yeah, the laundry service dropped them off earlier. That was odd since I didn't call and ask them to come get my pants and shirt and make sure they're clean and pressed," he said with a hint of accusation in his voice.

"_Hmmm, that is odd. I wonder how they managed that?"_

"Even when you're not here, you still seem to make sure my clothes are together and ironed and laid out for me and everything. How do you do it?"

"_I have my ways,"_ she told him with a smile in her voice. _"What can I say? I've got to look out for my man."_

The two lovers continued their conversation for a few more minutes before Zac looked at his watch and unwillingly had to end the call. "Hey, Baby, I've got to run. I just heard the shower turn off, so it's my turn. I'll call you later tonight."

"_Make Dylan take a picture of you and send it to me before you two leave the room,"_ she told him.

"Um, why?" he asked confused by her odd request.

"_Because I have to admire you. I am the ultimate fan girl, remember?"_

"You just want to make sure I look presentable before I leave the room, is that it?"

"_Busted,"_ she said innocently as the two shared a laugh.

"I love you," he told her. "I'll call you later tonight, okay?"

"_Okay. I love you, too," _she responded. _"Hey, Zac?"_ she called out, trying to get his attention before he ended the call.

"Yeah?"

"_I'm so proud of you,"_ she told him lovingly. _"You'll knock 'em dead tonight, I just know it!"_

"Thanks, Babe. It means the world to me to hear you say that. I'll talk to you later." The two of them ended the call and Zac stood up and stretched his muscles before retreating back inside and into the bathroom that was in the room he'd claimed for the week.

That night was not a typical night for Dylan Efron. As a kid, he was always known as the class clown- the one who would do anything it took to make others laugh and make sure the attention was on him. The reputation followed him all through high school. During middle school, he never really knew why exactly he did what he did; it was just a thing for him. But he quickly realized upon starting Arroyo Grande High School why. His ninth grade English teacher on the first day of school made the connection.

"_Dylan Efron? Are you somehow related to Zac Efron?" Mr. Townsend asked._

"_Um, yeah, he's my older brother."_

"_I remember having Zac in class. Really brilliant young man. And talented, too. I can tell he's going to go far. Are you anything like him?"_

That was the defining moment for Dylan. He vowed right there in that uncomfortable wooden desk in that stuffy classroom that he would do what ever it took to separate himself from his brother. And it only got worse for him as the day wore on. Every one of his teachers had made some comment about Zac. He never wanted to be known as "Zac Efron's younger brother" but as "Dylan Efron- the better looking of the Efron boys". Well, it was unfortunate that no matter how hard he tried or how much he acted out in class he would forever be known as Zac Efron's younger brother Dylan. And as far as being the better looking one- yeah, like that would ever happen! He always held a secret resentment towards his brother; one that no one ever knew about. There was only one person he ever tried to talk to about this, but Stella Hudgens didn't have it as bad as he did as she went to public school where her famous older sister was home schooled, so none of her teachers had any basis of comparison.

This particular evening, however, he was proud to call himself Zac's younger brother and even admired him. Zac had accomplished a lot in the few years he'd been in Hollywood and was sure to accomplish a whole lot more in the coming years and this evening was meant to honor that. He couldn't help but feel admiration of his brother and was beyond thankful that Zac and Vanessa had given him this opportunity. Dylan had never had the opportunity to express his feelings to Zac and hoped that this trip would offer him the chance to do so. The two brothers had never had a lot of bonding time in the past few years with Zac's crazy schedule, but they were hoping to rectify that during this trip. Dylan figured that one way to bond was for him to finally come clean about his borderline jealousy.

Seated in the front row watching as his brother received his award, Dylan couldn't help the big grin that adorned his face.

_Okay, so this is kinda cool. My brother is getting something that's a really big deal and I'm here to witness it. I don't think I've ever seen something like this for him._

At the conclusion of the ceremony, Dylan waited patiently as Zac posed for the appropriate pictures and gave the appropriate interviews. He'd never realized how much in demand his older brother actually was. He'd of course seen the televised interviews and those printed in magazines, but had never seen one live. He was startled from his thoughts as Zac approached him and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Dylan, what do you say we go put this back in the room and grab something to eat? A bunch of people are talking about a party at Tommy Bahama's. How does that sound? You game?"

"Yeah, sure, man. Whatever. This is your night. Let's celebrate it right!" So with that, the two returned to their suite so Zac could put his award away before heading down the beach to the popular location of the ceremony after party.

After finding a table and ordering their drinks and food, Zac faced his brother.

"Alright, it's just you and me. Talk to me."

"What do you mean?" Dylan asked him.

"Something's on your mind, I can tell," Zac said as he took a sip of the Millionaire Mojito that the young waitress just set in front of him. "Spill it, little bro."

"Boy, you don't waste any time, do you?"

"Dylan, I've known you your whole life. You can't hide anything from me, you know that. What's up?"

After taking a deep breath, Dylan took a sip of his Coke and proceeded to tell Zac everything about the feelings he'd been having for the past several years of his life. While listening to his brother, Zac began to feel slightly responsible and it wasn't long before he was ordering his second drink. When Dylan stopped bearing his soul to Zac, he noticed that his brother had been looking at the table for the past few minutes and not at him like he usually did when the two were talking about something serious.

"Zac? What are you thinking?" Dylan asked, taking a bite of his Santiago Seabass.

"So you're jealous of me?"

"Well, kind of, yeah, but not to the point that I'd consider it jealousy. I'm just tired of the constant comparison. Do you realize that every single teacher I had in high school had the same question for me? 'So you're Zac Efron's brother…'. Every girl that I was friends with had pictures of you either all over their notebooks or in their lockers. You have no idea how hard it is have been your brother these past few years."

Zac put his fork down on his plate and looked his younger brother in the eyes. "Dylan, I'm sorry you feel that way. I hope you know that it was never my intention to set this kind of path for you. I was just doing what I love to do."

"I know that. That's why it's so hard for me to tell you all of this. I don't know why all of a sudden this is coming out."

"Well, let me tell you something, Little Brother. Your life it way more glamorous than mine."

"How? You've done so much more and been to so many other places that I'd never have the chance to do or see."

"Yeah, but you have a normal life. You get to actually go out in public and not have your name screamed out like you're God or something. I'd give anything for that." Zac paused as he took the final sip of his drink before speaking again. "Ponder that for a minute. I'm going to get another drink. Need anything?" When Dylan shook his head 'no' Zac turned and walked to the bar area. His mind was so overrun with his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the girl that was standing nearby checking him out.

_I can't believe that I'm jealous of my younger brother. Wow. There's something messed up about that._

As Dylan watched his brother approach the bar area, he saw a girl check him out and lean over to the friend that was standing next to her and whisper something in her ear, pointing at Zac standing a few feet from her. She then started creeping her way closer and closer until she was mere inches from Zac's right arm.

_Uh oh. This can't end well._

Zac was busy telling the bar tender his order when he felt someone bump into him.

"Oh, excuse me," he said politely.

"Oh, no, you're fine. It was my fault. I apologize," the girl next to him said with a brilliant smile showing off her perfectly white and straight teeth.

"You know," she continued, "you look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?" she asked as she ran her finger down his arm.

"Um, no, I don't think so," he told her as he picked up his drink from the bar. As he turned to walk back to his table and rejoin Dylan, the girl placed her hand on his arm and pulled him back to face her. He watched as she held a card in her hand and reached up placing it in his shirt pocket.

"Use it," she told him with a wink. Zac reached in his pocket and pulled the card out looking at it. She had written on it two separate lines, one with seven numbers, with four different numbers underneath it, followed by the name of a hotel.

"Uh, hey, look, I feel I need to let you know that I have a girlfriend and she's the most important thing in my life. I appreciate your attention, but I don't think I'll be using your phone number or room number for that matter. So if you'll excuse me, I'll say thank you, but no thanks," he told the girl as he put the card down on the hard surface of the bar and slid it back in her direction.

"Well, your loss. Why don't you hang onto those anyway?" she asked him, tucking the card back into his shirt pocket. "I'll be around for a while if you change your mind," she told him with a seductive smile as she ran a finger down his clothed chest.

Zac wrapped his hand around her wrist, pulling her hand from his body before releasing it. He took the card from his pocket and placed it back onto the top of the bar before picking up his drink, turning around, and walking back to the table where Dylan was waiting for him.

The girl walked back over to where her friend was waiting and watching the scene playing out before her.

"Well?" her friend asked.

"Nothing," she answered as her eyes followed Zach as he sat back down across from a guy who was a younger version of him.

"No response?"

"Oh, no, there was a response. Just not the one I wanted. He said he had a girlfriend."

"So that's it, huh?"

"Oh, no, that's not it," she corrected her best friend. "He said 'girlfriend', not wife. I didn't get the response I wanted the first time, but don't I always get what I want the second time around?" she said with a pointed look.

"Sweetheart, I know that look. Do whatever you have to. Just promise me you'll be careful?"

"Aren't I always?" she asked with a smirk on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest, watching the mystery man she was just hitting on and the other guy sitting at the table with him from a distance.

"What was that all about?" Dylan asked as Zac came back to the table.

"What was what about?" Zac countered sitting back down in the booth and placing his Mojito on the table after taking a sip.

"That girl back there at the bar. What did she want?"

"I don't know. She was giving me her phone and room numbers. I think she was hitting on me or something."

"You think? Dude, do I have to cut you off?" he asked signaling to the drink that Zac currently had held up to his mouth as he took a sip. "That's exactly what she was doing! Even I could see that look of want in her eyes from way over here. This particular one is only your third drink and you've only taken three sips of it. There's no way that you're that drunk already that you don't know when a girl is hitting on you?"

"That drunk, no. But it has been that long."

"That long? You mean Nessa doesn't hit on you any more?"

"Van hasn't had to hit on me in almost five years. All she has to do it look at me and I'm hers," Zac said, pointing out the obvious to his brother.

"That was too much info, man. I didn't need to hear all of that."

"Hey, you brought it up!" Zac told him, holding his hands up in the air in defeat. "You know, I don't think that girl knew who I was. For some reason, she kept acting like this is the first time she's ever seen me."

"Believe it or not, I don't think every single person in this world knows the famous Zac Efron. It is possible that she just saw you and thought you were hot. Did you ever think of that?" Dylan asked.

"I've never had someone not know who I was," Zac told him.

"Conceited much?" Dylan joked and the two laughed as Zac responded by throwing his used napkin in Dylan's direction.

The two continued their dinner, with Zac polishing off his drink. After Zac paid the bill and finished a beer this time, the two brothers stood up from their booth and stretched.

"Hey, I'm going to the restroom before we leave. Grab the receipt for me, will ya?" Zac asked as he walked off in the direction of the back right corner of the restaurant which was quickly becoming the active hot spot for the night. Zac had quickly learned in past trips to the Islands that there were many hot spots here in Hawaii, but Tommy Bahama's was one of the hottest. At this time of night, he was not surprised to see the crowd growing as fast as it was. He made his way through the swarm or people until he reached his destination, unaware of the pair of green eyes that were following his every move.

Dylan sat back down at the table and waited patiently for Zac to return. As he waited he took in his surroundings and noticed the same girl from earlier- the one who was hitting on Zac just a few moments prior- standing at the entrance of the hallway where the restrooms were located. The protective side of him couldn't help but show itself as he wondered exactly what she was up to. Despite their age difference, he and Zac always seemed to look out for each other. He always had his brother's back, and it was certainly reciprocated from Zac. He sat back in his seat and watched as Zac made his way down the hallway. The girl noticed him before he noticed her and quickly made her way to stand seductively in front of him. From where he was sitting and watching, Dylan couldn't help but see the look in her eyes. It was a look of pure, animalistic desire.

_This doesn't look good _he thought to himself, as he stood, picked up the receipt the waitress had left, and walked closer to hallway himself so he could have a closer look. He stopped ten feet away from where Zac and Miss No Name were standing and watched as she ran her fingers up Zac's arm and reached both hands up to link them around his neck.

"Look, I already told you that I've got a girlfriend. I appreciate your attention, but I really think you need to back off," Zac tried to tell her as politely as he could. Despite his uneasiness at the current moment, he was still a gentleman.

As Dylan watched the exchange between his older brother and the strange girl who seemed to be somewhat drunk at the current moment. A small flash of light out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned his focus to the right just in time to notice a man wearing a ball cap with a camera pointed right at Zac.

_Oh, shit,_ were the only two coherent words that he could formulate in his young eighteen year old mind. He had been around his brother and his girlfriend enough times to know what that meant. He turned his head back to look at the couple standing feet in front of him just in time to see the mystery girl do the one thing Dylan was afraid she would do. Time seemed to go in slow motion for Dylan at that point. He tried to focus on the scene that was about to play out. As the stranger leaned in to attempt to give Zac a kiss, Zac turned his head, but the few drinks he had already consumed that evening altered his reaction time and he didn't turn in time, causing the girl to actually be able to plant the desired kiss on his lips.

Zac's mind was a whirl wind of thoughts. With the alcohol that he had allowed to take residence in his system, his first coherent though was _Wow, her lips feel like Vanessa's, _and he allowed himself to give in to the kiss from the unfamiliar person while a shocked Dylan watches on, looking over his shoulder to see if the unwanted photographer had seen the kiss as well. The second flash of light just confirmed his suspicion. He turned his attention back to the couple in front of him.

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind did another one appear. One that quickly caused him to sober up and take action. _Damnit! Vanessa! _He quickly pushed her away and spoke.

"I told you I have a girlfriend. I love her very much. She is my whole life and the most important thing to me. I would never do anything to hurt her. I've asked you twice already to please leave me alone. Now I'll say it once more, except not as nicely as I did before. Leave me alone. Don't come near me. If you see me or my brother walking down the beach, turn around and walk in the other direction." Zac turned around and walked past Dylan and towards the door. "Let's go, Dyl," he ordered.

_Now why can't the paparazzi see stuff like that?_ the youngest Efron questioned as he turned around and followed his brother out the front door of the restaurant. Zac made a beeline for the black Chevrolet Tahoe that was waiting for them at the corner and quickly climbed in. He was in the process of shutting the door when Dylan stopped him and pulled it back open so he could climb in himself. As the driver pulled the car from the curb, Zac leaned he head back against the headrest and forced himself to relax as much as he could under the circumstances. After a couple of minutes of silence, Zac slowly turned his attention to his brother.

"Exactly how much did I have to drink in there?"

"Two and a half mojitos and a beer."

"Shit, how could I let that girl kiss me?" Zac asked as he ran his hands across his tired face. "I need to get back to the hotel and call Van. Wait, where's my phone? I'll call her right now," he said as he sat up trying to reach into his pants pockets to find his iphone, but came up empty handed due to his never ending fidgeting. He lets out a frustrated sigh and looks at Dylan. "You call her, Dyl. Tell her what happened. No, wait, when she answers, let me talk to her."

Dylan puts his hands up to stop Zac's incessant ramblings. "Dude, I think it's best that we get some sleep first. Especially you. Zac, if you call her right now it's all gonna come out wrong and, the next thing you know, she'll hang up on you and be ticked thinking you made out with the girl or something. Just wait. Calm down and you can call her later."

Zac let out another sigh and leaned back in his seat. "You're right, man. You're right. I gotta think about this. I need to sleep on it before I talk to her and make sure I get it straight," he said as he looked out the window and watched the palm trees as they rushed past.

As soon as they got back to the room, Dylan watched Zac as he went straight to his room. A moment later, he heard the shower turn on so he made his way out onto the balcony. As he looked out at the waves in the ocean, his mind wandered back to the photographer that he spotted spying on Zac at the restaurant.

_I really hope he gets the chance to talk to Nessa before any pictures hit the net._

Zac used his time in the shower to focus and clear his mind.

_What do I tell Van when I talk to her?_ he wondered. _The truth. Just tell her the truth. She's a reasonable person. Always has been, _he thought as he ran his fingers through his hair, working the shampoo into a thick lather. Five minutes later, he was out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his mid-section. He walked across the room to pick up his phone and hit speed dial one. He sighed as he counted four rings and realized that she wasn't going to answer.

"_Hey, you've reached Vanessa…"_ he smiled when he heard the voice that he heard in his dreams. _The voice of an angel,_ he thought to himself. When he heard his cue, he quickly left her brief message.

"I love you and I miss you so much. Meet me in my dreams tonight. Good night."

Zac set his phone back on the night table and after putting on a fresh pair of boxer briefs, pulled back the covers of his bed and climbed in, immediately allowing the much needed sleep to overtake his body.

About an hour later, Dylan heard the familiar ring tone coming from Zac's room. He went to stand by the door and when it became apparent that he wouldn't answer, Dylan let himself in the room and noticed his brother fast asleep, slightly snoring. He saw the picture of the beautiful Filipina girl that's been in his brother's life for years and answered.

"Hey, Nessa," he says.

"Hey, Dyl. Zac had called me earlier while I was at the Activision preview thing and I didn't hear my phone. I was just calling him back. Is everything okay?"

After some quick thinking, Dylan answered with an explanation of "Yeah, everything's fine. He's just a little tipsy, so he's sleeping it off and snoring."

"Oh. Well, is that it then?" she asked a little hesitantly.

"Yeah," Dylan responded.

"Nothing else I need to know about?" She tried hard to hide the suspicious tone in her voice.

Dylan paused as he ran his hand nervously across the back of his neck… an action that he picked up from Zac who picked it up from their Dad. "Nope."

"Okay. Give Zac a kiss for me?" she asked with a smile.

"Not on your life," he responded quickly.

"Good night, BnL," she said to her hopeful future brother-in-law.

"Good night, SnL," he told her as he hung up the phone. He gave his older brother a look before walking out of the room, closing the door behind him, and going into his own room to get ready for bed himself.


	2. Chapter 2

_**For some strange reason, my Author's Note didn't get saved last time, so hopefully this one will! I have to apologize off the bat because I recently started a full time job that takes up a lot of my writing time, which means that my updates will not be as frequent as they have been in the past. Please hang in there and I'll update as often as I can. On another note, I've had some mixed reviews on this story- which is exactly what I was going for! All I have to say is JUST WAIT! You won't be disappointed. For those who have loved it so far, I say a great big "Thank you!" because you make me happy! Now with all that said, let me also add one more thing... I don't own anything in this story. Enjoy!**_

_**Chapter 2**_

Zac had passed out from the effects of the little bit of alcohol that was in his blood stream, but when his bladder woke him up around 2:30 am, he found it very difficult to get back to sleep. The rest of the night found him laying on his back staring at the stark, white ceiling above him with the memory of what had happened at the restaurant playing over and over in his mind. He was trying to work everything out, starting from the beginning, hoping to understand exactly what had happened. If he understood the events, maybe he'd be better able to explain everything to Vanessa.

Vanessa. Just thinking about her at this point in time made his heart hurt. The thought that the girl from the restaurant could have possibly messed things up between him and the woman he loved… he didn't even want to begin to imagine the conversation he would have to have with her when the time came.

As he began to once again think through the events, a new element showed up in his memory that he didn't think about before. Flashes. A flash that he'd come to know better then he'd ever wanted to within the past several years.

_Please God don't let there have been a photographer there. If they captured this on film, I won't have to worry about telling Van. She'll already know. _

Deciding that there was nothing he could do until the next day, Zac rolled over onto his side and eventually fell back asleep.

After what seemed like just a few minutes, Zac was once again awakened from his deep slumber, this time by a pounding on the main door of the suite. By the time it registered in his brain that he should get up and answer the door, he heard voices out in the living room area. Climbing out of bed and putting on a pair of boxers and grabbing a tee shirt, he made his way out of his room and was greeted by his brother and a tray of food.

"Morning," Dylan greeted him.

"Dude, why you so chipper this morning?" Zac asked, wincing at the loud noises. "And why are you screaming?"

"I'm not screaming. I think that alcohol affected you more than we realized last night. How do you feel, by the way?"

Zac shrugged his shoulders. "I've been worse," he said, picking up a pancake and taking a bite.

"I bet Nessa hates when you do that," Dylan said gesturing to the pancake that Zac held in his hand without using a plate.

"Yeah, she does, but I blame it on Dad and his bad habits that I picked up every time."

"Speaking of Nessa…"

"What about her?" Zac asked as he took another bite.

"How are you going to tell her about the chick from last night?"

"First of all, I would not consider a girl who practically forces herself on you a 'chick'. 'Slut' or something is more like it. Second of all, I need you to clear something up about last night for me. And be honest, don't bullshit me."

"What's that?"

"Was there a photographer there?"

Dylan sighed and studied his brother's face. Noticing the look of worry and despair in his eyes, Dylan decided to be completely honest. "Yeah, there was one there."

"How much did he get?"

"Everything," he told him honestly. "I didn't tell you last night because you were so worked up as it was. Telling you about the photographer would have pushed you over the edge."

Zac took the last bite of his pancake and walked into his room, emerging seconds later with his phone in his hands. Hitting redial, he put the phone to his ear.

"Calling her now?" Dylan questioned.

"I've got to, before she sees the pictures. I've got to tell her about everything."

Once again greeted by her sweet voice in her voicemail message, he let out a frustrated sigh and left yet another message for his girlfriend, trying hard to hide the hopelessness from his voice. "Van, Baby, it's me again. Listen, give me a call, please. I really need to talk to you. I miss you so much and just… just call me back when you can, okay? I love you." He held his phone in his hand, picked up another pancake from the stack, and walked into his room again, this time shutting the door behind him. Dylan watched, lost in his own thoughts of worry over his brother and the current situation, when his own phone rang. He looked down at the caller id and saw the picture of his counterpart on the screen.

"Hey, Stell Bell, what's up?" he answered.

"_We need to talk."_

_

* * *

_Vanessa rolled out of bed that morning after a restless night. She never seemed to sleep well whenever Zac was gone. She had gotten so used to sleeping with him beside her that she tossed and turned all night long without his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Last night was no exception… especially after the voicemail from Zac and the less than comforting conversation with Dylan. Despite what Dylan told her, she was convinced that something had indeed happened after the award ceremony the previous night.

After she washed her face and brushed her teeth, Vanessa made her way downstairs and saw her sister sitting in a chair, studying the computer screen in front of her. When she heard a noise behind her, Stella quickly worked to minimize the picture she was looking at, but in her haste hit the wrong button by accident, maximizing the picture instead.

"Morning, Stell," Vanessa said tiredly, as she made her way into the kitchen to fix a cup of coffee.

"Morning. Did you sleep at all?"

"No. How did you know it was possible that I wouldn't?" Vanessa asked.

"First of all, you never sleep when Zac's gone. Plus I overheard your end of the conversation with Dylan last night and thought that maybe something could be wrong." Vanessa sighed as she came into the breakfast room and sat down at the table, studying her sister's face.

"You're hiding something. What is it and why?" she asked with an accusing tone.

"Nothing. I'm not hiding anything. Why do you think I'm hiding something?" Stella asked quickly, glancing back and forth from her older sister's face to the computer screen, an act that didn't go unnoticed by Vanessa.

"Well, first of all you're really fidgety. Plus you keep looking at the screen like there's something you don't think I need to see. What's on the internet now that you're keeping from me?" she asked as she stood from her seat and came to stand behind her sister. Stella stood as well, trying to cover the screen with her hands.

"Nessa, no, don't. You don't want to see these! Trust me! Nessa!" Stella warned her as Vanessa finally managed to pull her sister's hands from the screen. Stella watched her sister's face as she slowly worked to process the picture that she was now staring at. There, in front of her eyes, was a picture of Zac and another girl. And this was not just any fan picture. This picture took the word 'fan' to a whole different level.

"Stella, get up. Let me sit down," Vanessa instructed.

"Nessa, I really don't think-"

"Stella, move!" she ordered, raising her voice a few notches. Realizing that Vanessa was not going to give up, Stella reluctantly vacated the chair and let her sister take a seat. She watched as Vanessa started to scroll through the few pictures that had appeared on the internet literally overnight. Pictures of Zac talking to another girl, pictures of him with a girl's arms wrapped around his neck, a picture of Zac- the one picture that really turned her stomach- kissing a girl. She noticed a common factor in all of the pictures that she looked at: the girl. All of the pictures on the site had the same girl in them.

Stella knew her sister well enough to recognize the hurt and fury that had taken residence in her eyes. She herself had been on the receiving end of that look many times in her life and knew that Zac was not going to have an easy time in the days that were to come. The eerie quietness in the room was interrupted by the familiar ringtone that Vanessa had long ago designated as Zac's. Vanessa pulled her eyes from the picture on the screen in front of her and looked at the smaller screen of her phone. Seeing the bright blue eyes that she loved so much smiling back at her was what finally caused her heart to break the rest of the way and the tears that were forming in her eyes to fall.

"Are you going to answer that?" Stella asked. When Vanessa lifted her eyes and Stella noticed the tracks being made by the tears streaming down her cheeks, she took it upon herself to hit the 'ignore' button, sending the call to her sister's voicemail.

"You should talk to him, Nessa. He may have an explanation." Without answering her sister, Vanessa stood from the chair and slowly walked upstairs. Stella stayed where she was until she heard her sister's bedroom door close before standing up and finding her own phone. She searched through her contact list until she found the name she was looking for and hit send, waiting patiently as the person on the other end answered.

"_Hey, Stell Bell, what's up?" _

"We need to talk," she told her counterpart.

"_This sounds serious,"_ he told her.

"It is. Dylan, what happened last night?"

"_You know?"_

"Yeah, _we _know," she told him, emphasizing 'we' to make sure he knew that Vanessa knew, too.

Dylan ran his fingers through his hair, wondering how to explain everything. _"Stella, how upset is she?" _he asked.

She sighed before she told him about what happened just moments before. "Dylan, it was horrible. She didn't say a word. She just stood up and walked upstairs and into the bedroom."

"_So the pictures are out, I assume?" _

"Boy are they! Dylan, they're all over the place! What happened? I need to know so I know how to talk to her."

"_Alright, but before I tell you, just keep in mind that what I'm going to tell you is the truth. I'm not making anything up to cover for him. Promise me that."_

"Okay, I promise."

As Dylan began to re-tell the story to Stella, she was looking through the pictures once again. This time, as she listened to Dylan replay the situation from the previous night, she noticed something about the pictures that she and Vanessa didn't notice before. Body language can tell a person a lot about something and in this case, Zac's body language was telling her a lot more than it ever had in the time that she had known him. It was telling her that he was uncomfortable to be in the position that he unwillingly gotten caught in.

"So he had no part in that kiss?"

"_No, none at all. The first time she approached him, he told her to stay away because he had a girlfriend who was the most important thing to him. She tried to give him her phone number on a card and he gave it back."_

"Keep going," she told him.

"_The second time she practically forced herself on him. He was just caught in the wrong position at the wrong time. The photographers have a way of doing that, don't they?"_

"Don't we know it."

"_He tried calling Ness but get her voicemail."_

"Yeah, I don't think she wants to talk to him right now. I'll try to talk to her. Maybe I can get her to listen."

"_Good luck."_

"Thanks," she said. "I'll let you know what happens." The two of them hung up and Stella sighed. She made her way upstairs, armed with the new information about the pictures that were currently wreaking havoc on the relationship between Zac and Vanessa- even if he wasn't aware of it- and took a deep breath before knocking on her sister's bedroom door.

"Nessa?" she called out tentatively. Not surprisingly, Stella was met by silence. She tried to door knob, only to find it locked. "Nessa, let me come in, please. I want to talk to you," she tried again. She wasn't sure what she expected the outcome to be, but let out a relieved sigh when she heard the lock on the other side of the door turn. Waiting a moment to gather her thoughts, Stella opened the door and let herself into her sister's spacious bedroom just in time to see Vanessa crawling back under the security of the down comforter of her king size bed- the same bed that she had picked out with Zac almost three years prior. Stella walked further into the room and sat down on the foot of the bed and reached her hand out to gently place it on Vanessa's leg. She waited until her sister turned her sad, brown eyes to face her before she began.

"I talked to Dylan," she began.

"Don't," Vanessa stated turning her eyes away from Stella.

"Nessa, you need to-"

"Don't tell me what I need to do!" she snapped, looking the younger of the two in the eyes once again. The two girls competed in a staring contest, each daring the other to crack first. Finally, Stella caved.

"Nessa, Zac didn't-"

"Stella, I don't want to talk about this. Not right now."

"But-"

"Just save your breath, Stellz. I need to think about some things, so if you'll excuse me…?" she told her, pointing to the door.

"Just please don't make any decisions until you talk to Zac first, okay? Just promise you'll hear him out and let him explain everything?" she pleaded. Vanessa looked at Stella, raised her eyebrows, and nodded toward the door, silently telling her once again to leave. Sighing in defeat, Stella reluctantly stood from her position on the bed and walked to the door, pausing in the doorway. She turned back to face Vanessa and watched as her sister turned her back to her and laid on her side facing out the window, and vacated the room. She slowly walked back downstairs and into the living room and spotted a picture of Zac and her sister sitting on the table next to the couch. She picked up the picture and looked at Zac's intense blue eyes.

"Please tell me that Dylan's story was right. Tell me that you aren't as stupid as those pictures make you out to be." She put the picture back on the table and looked in the direction of the stairs where Vanessa was currently contemplating her love life. _And please let her be smart enough to at least hear the whole story before making any stupid decisions that she'll regret later._

* * *

It was killing Dylan to see his brother hurting. As much as the two of them have had their differences growing up, when push came to shove, they always had each other's back. Dylan watched as Zac finally emerged from his room and made his way out to the balcony. He rested his forearms on the railing and leaned over to look out at the ocean beneath him.

_Damn, he looks miserable,_ he thought to himself. _What am I saying? Of course he's miserable! _

Suddenly, Zac pushed himself off the railing and turned around to walk into the living room. He walked straight past his brother and into the bedroom, emerging a few seconds later with his phone in his hand. He went back out onto the balcony and hit the all too familiar number once again. Bringing the phone to his ear, he hoped she would actually answer and listen to him this time. His breath hitched in his throat in anticipation when a female voice answered finally.

"_Zac? It's me."_

"Well, as much as I love you, you're not exactly the Hudgens sister I was hoping to talk to."

"_I know, but Zac, I think I'm the only one you're going to be talking to right now,"_ Stella told him sadly.

"How is she, Stellz?"

"_Um, she's," _Stella paused, unsure of how to answer. _ "Well, she's not talking so I really don't know."_

"That's bull, Stella. You and I both know her better than anyone. She doesn't need to talk for us to know how she's doing." After a moment of silence, Zac questioned her once again. "Stella?"

She sighed before speaking once again. _"She told me that she needed to think before throwing me out of her bedroom."_

"She needs to think?" he asked mainly to himself. "Great. So she's pissed?"

"_Um, I think hurt is more like it. I mean, yeah, she was pissed at first, but I think the pissed turned into hurt."_ This time, Zac was the silent one. _"Zac? Are you still there?"_

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm here. Listen, Stella, you believe me, right?"

"_Zac, why don't you tell me your version? I only know what Dylan saw."_

Zac began to rehash the events of the previous night. He told her about the girl, about her watching his every move like a stalker, about her fingering his arm like it was made of Swarovski crystal and she was afraid it would crack. He told Stella about the girl giving him her number and him giving it back.

"She wouldn't give up, Stell!"

"_What happened next?"_ she prompted him to continue.

"When I went to the bathroom, apparently she was still watching me because when I came back down the hall, she was waiting on me. That's when it happened."

"_And?"_

"I guess the alcohol was affecting me more than I had realized. As she was kissing me, all I could think was 'she reminds me of Vanessa' and that's when it hit me. I pushed her away and told her to not come near me and Dylan and I left."

"_You promise that's all that happened?"_

"Stella, I swear to you that I would never do anything to hurt Vanessa!"

"_I know. I guess I just needed to hear it so I can know better how to talk her."_

"Please, if you get her to talk at all, please tell her to talk to me. Make sure she knows that I love her with my whole heart."

"_I'll try to talk to her again, but right now, she's not talking at all."_

"Just as long as you try, that'd be great." He paused, as an idea quickly started to formulate in his mind. "Hey, Stella Bella, I better go. I've got to figure some things out," he said before hanging up, leaving Stella to listen to the monotonous, irritating dial tone.

As he came back into the living room, he pushed past Dylan and went back into the bedroom he had claimed for the week. Dylan reluctantly followed and threw himself onto the bed, leaning against the pillows with his legs stretched out in front of him. He watched as Zac started pulling clothes out of the dresser drawers and the closet and started putting them in the suitcase that had been sitting on top of the desk in the corner throughout the vacation.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Dylan asked him, his voice laced with confusion.

"Go get your stuff together. We're leaving."

"What? Zac, you can't be serious! We still have three days left here in Hawaii," Dylan pointed out.

"Dyl, the longer we stay here, the longer before I'm able to talk to Van."

"Okay, I'll give you that one, Bro, but-"

"But what?" Zac challenged him, turning around so his intense blue eyes were facing those of his brother.

"Zac, you've tried calling her, like, twelve times already today alone," Dylan pointed out as he sat up on the bed. "If I may point out the obvious, don't you think that if she wanted to talk to you, she would have answered her phone one of those many times?"

"Dylan, please," Zac begged him. "I've got to get back to her. I can't let things get any worse than they already are."

When Zac's eyes lost their intensity and turned desperate, Dylan stood and began to walk from the room. The ringing of Zac's phone caused him to freeze in the doorway. He slowly turned around and watched as his brother dropped the shirt he was holding and rushed to answer.

"Van?" he answered franticly.

"_No, it's not Vanessa,"_ a familiar voice responded.

"Gr- Greg," he stammered, as Dylan began to sneak out of the room. Zac put his hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezed, causing Dylan to wince under the pressure. "Hey. How- how are you?"

"Zac?" Dylan whispered, trying to get his brother's attention. The pressure from Zac's hand was so powerful that it caused the younger man to drop to his knees. Not that Dylan was surprised. The person on the other end of the phone struck fear even in him and he wasn't dating one of Greg's daughters. He could only imagine the panic running through Zac's mind at that particular moment.

"_Zachary, I didn't call to shoot the breeze with you. I want the truth."_

"Yes, sir. I'm sure you have some questions and I'm willing to answer them. May I ask, Greg, how did you find out? Did you talk to Van?"

"_No, Zac. I haven't talked to her. I wanted to talk to you first. Gina saw the pictures just a little bit ago on the internet and showed them to me. I waited until she was gone to call."_

"Well, Greg, um, what do you want to know?"

"Zac?" Dylan tried again to get Zac's attention, this time succeeding. Zac glanced down at his brother and loosened his grip, smoothing out his shirt in the process. As Dylan stood and began to make his way from the room once again, Zac snapped his fingers to get his brother's attention and pointed at the bed. Dylan rolled his eyes and took a seat, leaning back against the pillows that were propped up against the headboard with his arms crossed behind his head and his feet out in front of him, providing the silent support that he knew Zac needed right now.

"_I want the truth, Zac," _Vanessa's father stated again. _"Tell me what happened last night."_

Zac began to once again tell the story that had gotten him into potential trouble with his girlfriend. This time when he finished, he was greeted by silence on the other end of the line.

"Greg?" he tried, hoping the silence was just to allow the older gentleman a chance to process his thoughts. "What are you thinking?"

"_So what you're telling me is that none of this is your fault?"_ Greg asked to clarify.

"No, sir," Zac told him. "The situation happened just as I explained it. My brother saw the whole thing. You can ask him if you'd like." Dylan's eyes doubled in size at the prospect of having to carry on a conversation with Greg Hudgens.

"_That's not necessary, Zac. I trust you and I believe you. I just wanted to hear the words from you myself, and not wait on Vanessa to tell me."_

"Well, it's a good thing you didn't wait on her. She's not talking to me right now. In fact, Dylan and I were just about to get our stuff together and come home. I need to be there and see her and talk to her in person." Dylan visibly relaxed when he realized he wouldn't have to talk to Vanessa's father after all.

"_Don't do that, Zac. Don't come home early. I know you're anxious to talk to and see Vanessa, but don't. Give Gina, Stella, and I a chance to try and talk to her. Give her a few days to process everything. Hopefully by the time you two get back, she'll be ready to talk."_

"Thank you, Greg," Zac told him. "And uh, I'm- I'm sorry."

"_I know you are, Zac. You just hang tight and try to enjoy the rest of your time there in Hawaii. I know that's going to be hard, considering, but try to, okay?"_

"I will, sir. Thank you for calling."

"_You're welcome, Zac. We'll talk to you soon."_

After the phone conversation ended and Zac put his phone back down on the bedside table, Dylan turned questioning eyes to his older brother. "Well?" he asked. "What did he say?"

"We're not going anywhere right now. He told me to stay put, try and enjoy the rest of our time here, and to let him, Gina, and Stella try and talk to her. He said that hopefully, by the time we get home, she'll be ready to talk."

"Well, in that case, get your suit on and let's hit the beach. How does that sound?" Dylan asked, pumping his fist in the air with a hint of victory.

"Yeah, we can do that, I guess," Zac told him, shrugging his shoulders while ignoring Dylan's celebration.

As Dylan went back into his room to change, Zac pulled Vanessa's picture up on his phone. He sighed as he looked into the eyes he'd come to love so much in the past five years.

"Please, Baby, listen to your family," he whispered, hoping that she'd somehow be able to hear him despite the distance.


	3. Chapter 3

_As is always the case, I own nothing. I hope to change that one day... _

_**Chapter 3**_

That day had been a boring one for Stella. After searching her sister's pantry for something to fix for lunch, Stella finally settled on a simple pack of Ramen Noodles. Not the healthiest of meals, but this was Vanessa's house after all. She'd be lucky to find some lunch meat for a sandwich, let alone even a carrot that wasn't specified for Shadow's special treat time. The only time Vanessa had any healthy food in her kitchen was when their mother provided it, or even Zac. She stood on her tip toes to grab a pot off the pot rack that hung above the island in the middle of the kitchen and added the required amount of water and placing it on the stove top to boil. She then walked back into the walk-in pantry and grabbed one of the five boxes of Wheat Thins that no doubt her sister's boyfriend had provided. That was his favorite snack and he always managed to have at least two or three boxes available to him no matter whose house he'd be at- his own, Vanessa's, his parents, or even the Hudgens. It was for that reason that Stella felt no remorse at eating some of his crackers. She walked out of the pantry with her mouth full and was greeted by the sight of her sister. Taking in her solemn, distressed face, Stella put the box of Sundried Tomato and Basil flavored Wheat Thins down on the counter and held her arms open as an invitation to the person who's not only been her sister, but also one of the best friends she's ever had. When Vanessa's heart broke, so did Stella's.

Vanessa slowly walked into Stella's waiting arms and accepted comfort from the fifteen year old. After a moment of silence, except for Vanessa's sniffles, Stella finally pulled back and looked in Vanessa's eyes.

"How are you?" Stella asked, not sure what else to say.

Vanessa gave a small shrug. "I don't know, Stellz. I'm finding it hard to believe that he would just go and do something like that, but I can't quite bring myself to talk to him yet. I'm not sure why. I mean, I want to, but…" she said, letting her voice trail off with another shrug as the emotions began to take over once more.

Stella gave an understanding nod. "Do you want something to eat?" she asked, not sure what else to say.

"No, thank you. I'm not very hungry." Stella's phone began to ring, breaking the moment the two sisters shared. They turned to look at the offending object that was making the annoying sound before Stella made a move to answer it. Stella reached over and picked it up and, upon seeing their parents' home number on the screen, pushed the green accept button and lifted the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"_Hey, Stellz," _Greg Hudgens responded.

"Hi, Daddy," she greeted.

"_How are you two doing over there? You girls having fun?"_ he asked, carefully. If he had seen the pictures, then he was sure his first born had seen them, too, and was without a doubt having a hard time. He pumped his youngest for information without letting them know directly what his intentions were.

"Um, we're doing okay. We were just about to find some lunch. What's up?"

"_Is Vanessa bringing you home later?"_

"Hang on. I'll ask her," she told him as she pulled the phone away from her ear and faced Vanessa. "Dad wants to know if you'll be taking me home later, or do they need to come get me?" she asked.

"I can take you, I suppose. It won't hurt to get out of the house for just a little bit," Vanessa told her, still sounding miserable.

"Dad, Nessa said she can bring me home. Is there a certain time you need me back by?"

"_Soon. A certain time, no. Just soon. Your mom and I want to talk to her when you two get here."_

"Great," she muttered. "Okay, I'll let Nessa know. We'll be there soon," she told their father.

"_Thanks, Sweetie. We'll see you soon." _

When Stella put her phone back on the counter, she turned to face Vanessa with an anxious look on her face.

"What?" Vanessa asked, suddenly worried. Their dad always seemed to make the private moments in his daughters' lives the most important, family meeting worthy instances.

"He said he wants to talk to you when we get there."

"I had a feeling that was coming. About what?" Vanessa asked.

"He didn't say…" Stella said slowly.

"Well, alright then," Vanessa started, letting out a breath. "Why don't you hurry up and eat and I'll go get dressed. The sooner we get there, the sooner this 'talk' of Dad's will be over," she said while rolling her eyes, using air quotes to express her frustration at her father's desire to have an "important discussion"- as he often referred to these moments- when one was apparently not needed. At least, not in her opinion.

Stella turned back to the noodles cooking on the stove and poured them into a bowl to be eaten, while she waited on Vanessa to come back downstairs. She looked up as she heard her sister's footsteps descending the stairs and saw her dressed in a pair of denim shorts and a tank top. She had her favorite brown hat sitting on her head and a pair of brown sandals on her feet. She walked to the counter and picked up her purse and keys and faced Stella.

"Are you ready?" she asked, watching as Stella put her bowl in the sink and ran some water in it to let it soak.

"Yeah, let me grab my bag." When Stella came back downstairs, the two girls walked out the front door and in the direction of Vanessa's black Audi convertible. Vanessa was not at all surprised to see the few paparazzi camped outside her house. If the pictures had made the internet, it would only have been a matter of time before they found her. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Vanessa put her head down and looked at the ground to try and avoid their bothersome questions. The press, however, was not fooled by her attempts and managed to get some questions out after all.

"Vanessa, how did it feel to see the pictures of Zac kissing that other girl?"

"Does this mean that you two are over? Has Zac moved on?"

The two girls reached Vanessa's car and climbed in, ready to begin the ten minute ride to their parents house. When they got there, Vanessa used her key to let themselves inside and immediately upon entering, the two could feel the seriousness in the air and were suddenly worried about their father's sudden need for this unnecessary conversation with Vanessa.

_Okay, this feels weird. What's going on?_ Vanessa wondered to herself.

"Mom, Dad? We're here," Vanessa called out, letting their parents know that they were finally there only to be met by silence.

"Daddy?" Stella tried. "Where are you guys?"

Greg and Gina Hudgens slowly came into the family room and the two girls could see their father holding some papers in his hands.

"Hi, girls," their mom greeted them.

"Hey, Mom," Vanessa approached Gina and gave her a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm good, Sweetheart," Gina answered her, returning the hug.

Vanessa then turned to her dad and approached him, only to stop in her tracks when she saw the look in his eyes. "Daddy? What's going on? The look on your face has really got me worried."

Greg looked Vanessa in her eyes and took note of the redness, the puffiness, the evidence of the tears she had spent most of the day shedding. He set the papers down on the coffee table and placed both of his hands on her cheeks and held her head steady.

"Daddy?" she tried again.

"I just- you know what, never mind. Vanessa, sit down. Stella, go upstairs please."

"What? Dad, why can't I stay?" Stella asked, only to receive a stern look from their dad. "Fine," she scoffed and stormed upstairs.

"Vanessa, sit," Greg repeated.

"Um, okay," Vanessa responded, her voice laced with confusion. She tried to move, but Greg still had a hold of her face. "Dad? Can you let go? I can't move when you're holding me like this. It's kinda creepy."

Greg pulled his hands from his daughter's face and she moved to take a seat on the couch. Gina came and sat next to her, taking one of Vanessa's hands in her own. Greg began pacing the length of the den, rubbing his hand over the lines in his forehead which had appeared throughout the years. Those lines of worry always appeared to be more prevalent when one of his three girls were in trouble in some way. This day was no different.

"Mom?" Vanessa leaned over and whispered in her mom's ear.

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Is Dad okay?"

Gina responded not with words, but with a simple, loving pat on her oldest daughter's hand which she held clasped in her own. She offered Vanessa a small smile in an effort to try and cheer her up, and Vanessa gave her mom a puzzled look in return.

_I think it's official, _she thought to herself. _My parents have cracked. _She let her gaze fall to the coffee table and noticed the papers that her dad had set there a few moments earlier. Suddenly, a thought dawned on her as her eyes grew wide with realization. _Oh, my God. They know. They've seen the pictures! _Finally, Greg cleared his throat before speaking.

"Vanessa," he started, "your mom and I wanted to talk to you about what's going on with Zac."

Vanessa rolled her eyes and struggled to fend off the tears she felt- once again- begin to appear in her brown orbs. She let out a sigh of frustration and pulled her left hand from her mom's right and crossed her arms across her chest as she turned her eyes to stare at a spot on the floor.

"Vanessa, you need to talk to him. Find out what happened."

"I know what happened, Dad. He kissed another girl," she snapped.

"You don't know the whole story, Sweetheart," Gina told her.

"I know enough, Mom."

"Vanessa-" Gina continued, being cut off by Greg.

"Vanessa, you're being unfair by not talking to him," Greg continued.

"How do you know that I haven't talked to Zac?" she questioned.

"I called him this morning."

"You called him?" she exclaimed. "Why is it any of your business?"

"Watch your tone, Vanessa Anne. Now you listen to me," Greg commanded, pointing a finger in the direction of his eldest daughter in the way that only a father can. "I called him today because we wanted to be certain of the real story before we let out minds run crazy."

"Too late for that," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that, Sweetie?" he mom spoke up.

"Nothing."

"Vanessa, you're twenty-one years old-" Greg tried to continued.

"Thank you for the newsflash, Dad," she interrupted.

"Vanessa, you're twenty-one," Greg tried again, fending off his daughter's semi offensive tone. "You're supposedly in a mature, adult relationship. Am I right?" Her sniffle echoing through the room told him that he had managed to hit a nerve which was still raw from that morning's news flash which came to her courtesy of the ever present internet. Greg looked her in her eyes and noticed the moisture that was beginning to appear. He crossed the room and sat down on the coffee table in front of the couch where Gina and Vanessa were sitting.

"Supposedly," she said softly, still trying to fend off the all too familiar tears.

"When your mother or I do something that the other finds hurtful or stupid, we sit down and talk it out. That's what a relationship is supposed to be about. That's what an _adult _relationship is about."

"What are you saying, Dad?" she asked.

"I'm saying that you need to talk to him. Give him a chance to explain everything. Make him think that you still love him and haven't given up on him. On you two."

"Dad, I haven't given up on him. I do still love him," she admitted, her voice cracking.

"Then why aren't you talking to him?" Greg challenged her.

"I have my reasons."

"What are they?"

"Dad, I just-" she started, and then stopped, letting her mouth close.

"You just what?"

"I…" she tried again, letting her voice trail off. Vanessa felt Gina reach out and take her hands once again, trying to soothe her eldest daughter.

"Vanessa, you can tell us," she tried to coax her.

"You guys wouldn't understand," she told them tearfully.

"Try us, Sweetheart," Gina told her softly.

Vanessa sat there for a moment letting her tears fall quietly once again. She'd lost count of how many times that day she'd cried. Just when she thought her tear ducts had all dried up…

After watching Vanessa sit there quietly for a long moment- her sniffles being the only sound she let out- Greg finally softened and moved from the coffee table, coming to sit on the other side of her, taking her in his big teddy bear arms and pulling her to him. She allowed herself to relax into her Daddy's embrace and rested her head on his chest. He gently rocked her back and forth like he would do with her when she was just a young child, running his hand through her long brown locks.

"Shhh. Baby V, whatever it is that's going on between you two can be fixed. It always has been."

"Daddy, whatever has gone on in the past that Zac and I ever argued over has never been this bad. All of our arguments have always been over petty things that we've always seemed to work out within minutes. This is not something petty. This is more than that."

"If that's the case, Vanessa, then call him and talk to him," Greg tried once again.

"Daddy…" she started.

"What?"

She sighed, trying to get her thoughts in order before continuing. Suddenly, she reached her hand up to wipe away her tears and worked to compose herself as she stood up from her position on her Mom and Dad's couch.

"I can't do this now. I've got rehearsal. I've gotta go. Tell Stella I said bye and that I'll see her soon." She walked out the door, leaving her parents staring behind her, wondering what caused the sudden change in the demeanor of their first born.

Vanessa was not surprised to see that the paparazzi had once again followed her to her parents house. When they started once again firing questions at her about her relationship with Zac, she looked at them and- despite her temporary depression- managed her most brilliant smile and gave them a small wave in hopes of distracting them and taking their minds off their current assignment. She climbed behind the wheel of her car and made the forty-five minute drive to the Hollywood Bowl Theatre for her 'Rent' rehearsal.

_Something to take my mind off everything…_

* * *

There was one thing that Zac always turned to to help him clear his mind- surfing. That's where he and Dylan were today. The two had decided to head back out to the beach to get some more surfing in and Zac had hoped to make sense of everything. That did not seem to be the case for today, however. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but keep re-playing his conversation with Stella over and over in his mind.

"_She told me that she needed to think…" _he repeated the words spoken by his girlfriend's sister to himself. The same words that caused his breathing to hitch in his throat and his heartbeat to rapidly increase. _It's never good when she thinks,_ he told himself with a sigh, as he spotted the perfect wave coming his way and turned his board around in the water before pushing himself to stand on his feet and quickly gain his balance.

"…_I think the pissed turned into hurt." _He soon lost his balance and felt the surfboard slip out from under his feet as he fell to the water below. Luckily with the wrist strap attached to his body, the board didn't go far.

_So she's not angry. She was but isn't anymore. That's a good thing, right? Although I'm not sure which I'd rather have… an upset Vanessa or an angry Vanessa. It's a toss up, _he thought with a shake of his head.

"Dude, everything alright over there?"

Zac looked over to his right and saw his brother wading in the water next to his own rented board.

"You look a little out of sorts," Dylan said to him.

"Really? I can't imagine why," Zac responded with sarcasm lacing his voice. "It's not like I have anything going on right now. I'm the picture of relaxation, don't you think?"

"Okay, so she didn't call before we came out here. Why we go back up to our stuff and you can check your phone again and see if she called. I know you want to." Zac shot his brother a look of annoyance which quickly softened.

"Fine," he said. "I would be very surprised if I have anything from her."

The two brothers picked up their boards and made their way back up the sandy beach toward their belongings. Zac reached into his backpack and retrieved his phone, seeing that he had two voice mails and one text message. He punched in his pass code and listened to his voice mails first.

"_Zachary, this is Mom. Sweetheart, what happened? Have you lost your mind? Your father and I are beside ourselves wondering and worrying. We want you to call us as soon as you can. And honey, what about Vanessa? Please call us. We love you boys and we hope you both are having fun, considering everything. We'll talk to you soon." _

Zac let out a sigh as he hit the number one to delete the message from their brought the phone back to his ear in time to hear the beep before his second message started to play.

"_Zachary David Alexander Efron! I swear to you, if these pictures hold any truth to them, you better hope I get held over in Toronto with filming! I'm telling you, Efron, if you hurt her, I'm out for blood and you know I'm not joking! Call me!" _

Zac let out another sigh, this time one with a sense of irritation, as he deleted the message from Ashley. He went to turn his phone off before another yellow envelope in the upper right corner of his phone screen caught his attention.

"Well?" Dylan asked him.

"Nothing from her. One voice mail from Mom, one from Ashley."

"What did they say?"

"Mom wants us to call her, Ashley threatened my life."

"Dude, you know it's serious if Ashley's threatening you. She doesn't play!" Dylan exclaimed, receiving a glare from his older brother.

"Gee, Dyl, thanks for the support!"

"Sorry, man. Hey, what about that text?" he asked, pointing out the fact that Zac had yet to read it. Zac opened it up and read it out loud to Dylan.

"It's from Jason," he said, referring to his manager. "'Zac, what's going on? Call me. Do we need to set up damage control?' Is he for real? 'Damage control'?"

"Dude, if it's gotten that out of hand that your manager's thinking about possible damage control, do you think E News will have this story?"

Zac held up his hand, giving his brother a look. "I don't need to think about that right now. I need to talk to her. I'll see you back a the room." Zac stood and gathered up his towel and put it in his backpack, throwing it over his shoulder. He then picked up the surfboard and carried it back to the rental shed and turned it back in. Dylan watched as Zac made his way back across the sandy beach in the direction of their hotel. As his brother disappeared out of sight, he got his own cell out of his bag and found the entry he was looking for in his address book. Hitting 'send', he brought the phone to his ear and waited patiently.

"_Hello?" _he heard on the other line.

"Hey, SnL. How's it goin'?" he asked.

"_Are you seriously asking me 'how's it goin'? Surely you of all people know the answer to that, Dylan,"_ Vanessa told him.

"Well, yeah, I do. But I thought maybe I could talk to you for a minute?" he asked hopefully. _This is the only chance. Maybe if I talk to her and tell her what happened…_

"_Dylan, you know I always want to talk to you. But now's not a good time. I'm at rehearsal right now. We just happened to be on a break and I heard my phone. I really can't talk right now. I'll talk to you guys when you get home, okay? Have fun." _

Before Dylan could respond, she ended the call. It didn't go unnoticed by him the sarcasm in her voice as she said the last sentence.

"_Have fun…"_

If only she knew how much fun he was currently having by walking on egg shells around his brother…

* * *

It was around 6:00 when Vanessa's rehearsal was finished for the day and, after stopping through the Arby's drive through, she made the drove back to the beach house in Malibu that she and Zac had found to share for the summer. Before he left for Hawaii, they were trying to decide on whether or not they should put in an offer to buy it and keep it as a get away place, or just turn the keys back over to the rental agency that they had gone through at the end of the summer. By the time she got to their temporary home, it was almost 7:00, so she sat down in the den and turned on the plasma television that Zac had insisted they have installed- never mind they would only be there for three months; "_I have to be able to watch the college World Series when it's on at the end of June"_ was his argument- to the E Network.

_Time for E News,_ she thought to herself. _Let's see who Ryan and Giuliana talk about tonight._

Vanessa enjoyed her roast beef sandwich and curly fries as she watched the main stories being discussed. Lindsey Lohan and Charlie Sheen with their recent legal issues, Sandra Bullock and her adopted baby Louis out on the town, of course the Kardashian sisters in Miami… all of these stories were a tiny bit interesting to Vanessa, but it wasn't until their 'Sightings' segment that her interest was really piqued.

"_And in Hawaii this week, Zac Efron is being honored with the Shining Star Award at the 2010 Maui Film Festival," _she heard Giuliana Rancic's voice say as it came through the speakers of the television. She glanced up and saw the picture of her boyfriend dressed in his khaki pants and white shirt as he accepted his award and immediately felt the all too familiar proud grin spread across her face. Despite the up and down turmoil of that day, she was still proud of him and felt giddy just thinking of him getting such a prestigious award. _"We think he's looking pretty good in Maui, but why is his younger brother with him instead of Vanessa?"_

"_Vanessa's got a really busy, really tight rehearsal schedule this week and couldn't make it. We made the decision together for me to bring my brother along as his high school graduation gift and he and I have been having a blast so far this week. I'm glad we're getting the chance to spend some time together before he goes off to college," _Zac told the reporter on screen.

"_It's okay, Zac. Seems like younger brother Dylan has been enjoying himself as well," _Giuliana continued, as a picture of the grinning Efron brothers appeared on the screen. _"And he seems to be following your lead in the looks department. Looking good there, Dylan." _Vanessa just shook her head as she imagined the cocky look Dylan would most likely have on his face had he been sitting there listening to that as well.

She had almost started to somewhat feel better when she heard the introduction to the infamous "So True, So False" segment. This was the one segment that always sent Vanessa into a turmoil of emotions. She never knew what to expect from this segment. That night, however, she was not the least bit surprised by the first story involved.

"_We mentioned earlier that Zac and his brother are in Hawaii this week, but does this picture of him kissing another woman at a local Tommy Bahama's reveal that the supposed reason he gave for Vanessa not being present by his side was just a cover up? Has the Hollywood super couple called it quits and has Zac set a record for moving on? This one we're so not sure about. As of air time, we've still been unable to reach representatives for either side of the couple for a statement."_

Vanessa shook her head in amazement. "They will latch on to anything. I'm not surprised they got the picture, but seriously, Ryan? Are you really going to believe that, or is that just something you're reading off the teleprompter?"

She sat there for a minute having an inner battle with herself. She had still yet to decide what she was going to do. She knew she needed to talk to him, but for some reason she felt she should wait until he got home. She still felt the need to let him know something, however, so she reached for her phone, pulling up her text message screen. Vanessa sat for a moment trying to decide what she wanted to say, and then finally she had her mind made up and started typing. She knew that as soon as he read her message, he would know what she meant as he had gotten hooked on E News as well and the two of them watched it every night together. If they were separated, like now, then they would still watch it separately.

"_Zac," _she began to type out _"it's false. We'll talk soon." _After reading over it four times to make sure there was nothing subliminal and he couldn't read more into it than she intended, Vanessa was pleased with the message. She felt it said just what she wanted it to without saying too much. She didn't, of course, want to lead him into thinking anything one way or the other until they had the chance to talk in person. She just hoped that he understood what she meant as well. She took a deep breath and hit send and proceeded to flip through the channels, determined to find something else to watch, finally having enough of E News for the evening. Once she found a re-run episode of _That 70's Show_, she took another bite of her sandwich and settled in for an evening of Fez, Hyde, Jackie, and the gang.

_Soon,_ she told herself. _We'll talk soon._


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey, yall. Sorry I've been MIA lately. I've had a whole heap load of personal family stuff going on with my daughter and my brother, and it's still going on! The good news is writing helps get my mind off a lot of it, but the bad news is I've been throwing myself into my work lately to try and keep my mind off of everything, so that cuts into my writing time. I figured I made yall wait this long, so I may as well put everything behind me for the time being and give you a chapter. Thank you for being so patient with me and hopefully everything will be over soon.**_

**_As always, I own NOTHING. So sit back, read, and enjoy!_**

_Chapter 4_

After Zac and Dylan returned to their room and took their separate showers to wash off the salt water of the ocean, they agreed to stay in and have a relaxing evening of room service and whatever movie they could find on the television. As they sat there waiting on the knock on the door announcing the arrival of their dinner, Dylan turned the television on and began to flip through the channels. One show in particular caught Zac's attention and he instructed to Dylan to stop.

"Stop right there, Dyl."

"E News?" Dylan questioned. "Seriously?"

"Hey, you'd be surprised what they say about everyone. Actually, they're pretty factual sometimes. Besides, Giuliana's not that hard to look at."

"Just a little bit of advice… watch what kind of comments like that you say. Especially right now. Does Nessa know you feel that way?"

"She says the same thing about Jason Kennedy. Believe me, we know each other's real reason for watching this," he said. Dylan looked to the screen he was pointing to and started grinning.

"Hey, look! I made the E News stuff tonight!" Zac looked up in time to hear what Giuliana was saying.

"_It's okay, Zac. Seems like younger brother Dylan has been enjoying himself as well," _Giuliana continued, as a picture of the grinning Efron brothers appeared on the screen. _"And he seems to be following your lead in the looks department. Looking good there, Dylan." _

"Oh, man. Here we go," Zac groaned under his breath, rolling his eyes, and turned to look at Dylan. His brother was standing there, looking at the screen, his blue eyes dancing with excitement. He had his chest puffed out and was working hard to look older than his eighteen years. A proud look crossed his face as he turned to look at Zac.

"Did you hear that? Your make believe girlfriend Giuliana thinks I'm handsome!" he said with mock arrogance.

"Dude," Zac started, shaking his head in amusement, letting a small chuckle escape. "Don't start with the handsome stuff. Believe me, it only tends to cause more trouble than it's worth sometimes."

Dylan gave his brother an understanding pat on the back as the knock they had been waiting on sounded on the other side of the door. After paying the room service attendant and bringing their food inside, they settled on the floor between the coffee table and the couch, watching the rest of E News. After the current commercial break, the show returned just in time for the "So True, So False" segment. Zac was a little bit taken aback to see that he was the lead in story in that particular segment. He stopped with his burger half way to his mouth and slowly lowered it back down onto the plate resting on the table as he listened to Ryan Seacrest begin the segment.

"_We mentioned earlier that Zac and his brother are in Hawaii this week, but does this picture of him kissing another woman at a local Tommy Bahama's reveal that the supposed reason he gave for Vanessa not being present by his side was just a cover up? Has the Hollywood super couple called it quits and has Zac set a record for moving on? This one we're so not sure about. As of air time, we've still been unable to reach representatives for either side of the couple for a statement."_

Zac sat frozen for what felt like an eternity with Dylan watching him, not sure what to say or do.

"Zac?" he tried carefully. Zac slowly lifted his eyes toward his brother's and Dylan noticed the sadness that had gradually began to disappear make its presence known once again.

"She saw that," he said quietly.

"How do you know? Maybe she was at rehearsal and missed it," he tried to reason, watching as Zac shook his head.

"Her rehearsal ended at 6:00 tonight."

"You have her rehearsal schedule memorized?" Dylan asked in disbelief, receiving a stern "don't go there" look from Zac. "Sorry." The brothers looked up as they heard the ringing tone sound from Zac's phone across the room. Dylan waited to see if Zac would get up and get it, but when it became apparent that Zac wouldn't budge, he took it upon himself and crossed the room to the counter where his brother's phone was sitting. He picked it up and carried it back to where the two were sitting on the floor. He silently held it out to Zac who refused to reach up and take it. Dylan sighed and took it upon himself to look at the phone number that appeared on the screen and his eyes widened with anticipation as he recognized it immediately.

"Oh, man. This oughta be good," he said to his brother as he hit the green accept button and brought the phone to his ear. "Hey, Mom," he said cheerfully, trying to hide the amusement that laced his voice.

Zac groaned as he realized he never returned his mom's call from earlier in the day.

"_Don't 'Hey, Mom' me, Dylan. I told your brother to call me back!"_

"Well, he's right here. Hang on," he told his mom, holding the phone to Zac without hesitation.

"Hey, Mom," Zac said with as much excitement as he muster up, trying to hide the depression that he currently felt, watching as Dylan carried his plate to the kitchenette.

"_You didn't call me back," _Starla Efron immediately accused her oldest son.

"I know and I'm sorry. I kept meaning to, but-"

"_But what?" _Starla challenged him.

"But… um- uh, but…" he stuttered, trying desperately to come up with a plausible excuse. "You see, what happened was… Yeah, I got nothing."

"_That's what I thought," _she told him. _"Zac, I'm putting you on speaker. Your father and I want to talk to you. Is Dylan there?"_

"Yeah."

"_Put your phone on speaker, too," _she instructed him. _"All four of us are going to talk."_

"Hey, Dyl," he called out as he enabled his speaker phone feature, "family convo, man. Let's go." Zac scooted over on the couch and allowed Dylan to sit next to him as he came back into the living room area, putting his phone on the coffee table in front of them. "Alright, Mom, Dad. We're both here. What's up?"

"_Zac, we want to talk to you two about what's going on over there," _David spoke up.

Zac let out an annoyed sigh as it registered the real reason for his parents' phone call. "How did I know that's why you were calling? Never mind calling to see if we're having fun. You want to call and check on my personal life."

"_Now, Zac, honey-" _Starla started trying to soothe Zac's demeanor.

"No, Mom, don't." Zac struggled to keep his voice from rising as his aggravation grew. "How did you two find out? Was it the pictures on the internet? Did you watch E News tonight? Are the paparazzi hounding you guys?"

"_It wasn't any of those ways, Zachary," _he Dad said.

"Then what, Dad?"

"_Greg and Gina called us," _David finally admitted.

"Great," he said. "What did they say?"

"_Well, Greg told us what you told him this morning. We want to hear the story from the two of you. Dylan? You were there, right?" _David asked.

"Yes, sir," Dylan answered their dad.

"_Tell us what you saw."_

"I saw the woman practically force herself on Zac. Mom, Dad, Zac didn't do anything to encourage her. In fact, he'd already told her twice to leave him alone before she kissed him."

"_Zac, is that the truth?" _David asked, sharing a concerned look with his wife in their California living room.

"Dad, with all due respect, I can't believe that you would think I would do something like this to Vanessa on purpose. I love her, Dad. Why would I jeopardize the most important thing to me?"

"_Zac, have you talked to Vanessa?"_ Starla asked him lovingly.

"She won't talk to me, Mom. I've tried calling her several times."

"I talked to Stella. She told me she'd try and talk to Nessa, but I haven't heard from her yet. I don't know what happened if she has," Dylan informed his family.

"What do I do, Mom?" Zac asked desperately, seeking advice from one of the two most important women in his life.

"_Don't give up on her, Zac. Vanessa's a reasonable young woman. She just needs time to process everything. I think deep down, she knows the truth. She's just probably in shock. So don't give up, but give her time, too."_

"Thanks, Mom."

"_So are we good, boys?"_ David questioned them.

"That's it? You two only called to give me the third degree?"

"_We actually have something going on, so we need to get going before we're late. We just wanted to make sure you two were doing okay," _Starla informed them.

"So apparently we're just a second thought to them. They were calling as they were rushing out the door," Dylan joked.

"_Well, I did call earlier today, if you two remember, but someone didn't call me back…"_ Starla told them.

"Yeah, hey Mo- can't hear- two- break- up- can't- out- every- you're saying- Tunnel, bye!" Zac yelled before ending the call as Dylan broke out in laughter.

Zac stood up from his spot on the couch and carried his plate into the kitchenette while the vibrating tone sounded from his cell phone, which signified that a text had come through during the phone call with their parents. Dylan, being the closest, reached down to pick it up from the table and opened the text message.

"Dude, I think you oughta read this," he told his brother.

"I'm not interested," Zac told him solemnly as he came to sit back down on the couch, picking up the remote control to the television on the way.

"I think you'll be interested in this one," Dylan said as he tossed Zac his phone.

Zac reached out and caught it before it landed in his lap. He looked at the message on his phone and turned hopeful eyes up to his brother.

"Is this for real?" he asked.

"It appears to be. It's from her number."

Zac looked at the message again and read it once more.

"_Zac, it's false. We'll talk soon." _

"Soon?" he asked. "She said 'soon'."

"Yeah, man, I read it. Remember?"

"What does she mean by 'soon'?" Zac wondered.

"I don't know," Dylan told him.

"I mean, there's so much that can be meant by that one word. Soon can mean tomorrow, it can mean next week, it can mean next month. Why would she say 'soon'? Why didn't she say when specifically?

"Dude, you're such a girl!" Dylan teased him.

"Shut up, man, this is serious! Do you not realize that my relationship is on the line here?" Zac looked up at Dylan and watched as the smile faded from his face and he quickly turned serious.

"Zac, I'm sorry. I really am. I mean, you're right. She said 'soon' which totally leaves the door open for that. But at least she didn't say 'never'," Dylan tried to point out the obviously promising fact. "She is still willing to talk to you. Just don't overanalyze it. Like Mom said, give her time. She'll come around."

Zac sighed as he flipped his phone over and over in his hand, mulling over the point just made by his brother before putting the phone in his pocket. "I guess you're right. She didn't say 'never'."

After the guys watched an episode of _That 70's Show_, they both retreated to their separate room to get their stuff together for their journey home the next day. Normally, the thought of leaving the paradise of Hawaii and returning to reality made Zac gloomy, but this time, he almost didn't want to leave. Regardless of everything that had happened to him on this particular trip, good or bad, he was almost afraid of returning. He wasn't sure of the reception he would receive when he got back to the beach house that he and Vanessa were sharing in Malibu for the summer, or if she would even be there at all. He decided to take his Mom's advice and just give his love the time he felt she needed and let her come to him when she was ready. As he drifted off to sleep, his mind was overcome with thoughts about his homecoming.

The next afternoon, the plane ride was pretty uneventful for the two brothers. Dylan slept while Zac switched back and forth from the in flight movie and his ipod. It wasn't until the plane began its decent onto the tarmac at LAX that Zac's nerves overtook him.

He- having become a professional in the past few years at making his way through the terminal that was crowed by photographers- led Dylan through the mob of people and quickly made their way in the direction of the baggage claim. After grabbing their luggage and walking out into the sunlight, Zac hurriedly found the black Lincoln Town Car that he'd arranged to have waiting on them. Zac instantly recognized the driver as Michael, one of the few who had chauffeured him and Vanessa several times. He was one that the two liked and requested on occasion before and the two greeted each other with quick handshakes before the driver took their suitcases and carry on bags and put them in the trunk of the car while the Efron brothers climbed in the back seat. It wasn't until Michael got back in the car behind the steering wheel and turned to face the Efron brothers and asked the one question that Zac had secretly been dreading did the reality of the situation hit him full force:

"Where are we going, gentlemen?" Dylan turned to face his brother not sure of how to answer. Were they going to Zac's house in Studio City- despite the repairs still being done after the flood-, Vanessa's house a few minutes away from his own, or the beach house the two of them were sharing? Finally, letting out a sigh, Zac answered without looking up at the driver.

"1252 Latigo Shore Place. Malibu." The older man turned back to face the road in front of him and slowly pulled the car from the curb and began the close to an hour drive to Malibu Beach. Dylan couldn't help but take notice of Zac's silence during the car ride and he had a feeling it had something to do with the nerves that were building inside of him.

The hour passed too quickly for Zac's liking. It seemed that just as he was getting comfortable, the luxurious black car pulled up outside the summer home. He shifted his eyes to look out the window of the car and faced the front of the house, immediately searching the windows for any sign of his girlfriend. Not seeing any sign of Vanessa's face, he forced himself to climb out of the backseat and gather his backpack that served as his carry on off the sidewalk and climbed the steps to the front door, where Michael was placing the luggage. Zac handed him a tip and the two men shook hands before they went their separate ways.

Dylan picked up his and Zac's suitcases as Zac got the key to the house out of his backpack. As he unlocked the door and the two stepped across the threshold, they were met by an eerie silence. Dylan set the suitcases down to the left of the door out of the way while Zac took a few steps further in the foyer, calling out into the peacefulness.

"Van? Baby, we're back. Are you here?" No response. He tried again, hoping that maybe she just didn't hear him the first time. "Vanessa? Where are you?"

The two brothers looked up at the sound of the pitter patter of tiny puppy claws on the hardwood floor of the foyer and were greeted by the dark eyes of Vanessa's two feet tall toy poodle Shadow. She approached the guys and just looked up at her "dad" with a look of curiosity. Apparently the tiny dog knew something was going on between her "mom" and the man who had frequented her bed, forcing Shadow onto the doggy bed in the corner of the bedroom. Zac's first clue was the baring of tiny white teeth in his direction. As he reached down to pick up his girlfriend's pet, she gave out a small growl, which given her size sounder more like a whimper, causing Dylan to let out a chuckle.

"Poor Shadow. She's so tiny she can't even growl like a real dog," Dylan picked on the puppy.

"Hey, just because she's tiny doesn't mean she doesn't make noise," a third voice joined in.

"Kind of like you, right?" Dylan joked right back, turning to face Vanessa as she made her way down the stairs.

"That's right. I may be little, but I'm loud," Vanessa told him.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Zac mumbled under his breath turning his back to hang up his jacket in the closet.

"How was Hawaii, Dylan?" she asked pointedly directing her question to the younger Efron. If she heard Zac's statement, she in no way acknowledged it… or him. She knew from the pictures how Hawaii was; she just wanted to hear it from the younger man's mouth and see if he would let out any clues.

"Oh, Nessa, it was awesome! It's so beautiful there. I mean, this makes me sound gay, but the sunset and the trees and the beach and the water… It's just… it's… I can't even describe it. Thank you so much for letting me go!" he exclaimed as he threw his arms around Vanessa's neck.

"I'm so glad you enjoyed it. It is absolutely beautiful there. Now you see why I love Hawaii so much," she responded, as she returned his hug. "You're very welcome." She slowly pulled back, knowing full well what she had to do, and turned to face Zac who was still standing in front of the now closed closet door. He stood off to the side with his arms crossed in front of his chest, watching the interaction between his brother and his girlfriend. When she turned to face him, he instinctively brought his right hand up and began rubbing the back of his neck. The two just stood facing each other for a very long moment, before Vanessa spoke again.

"Hey, Dylan, why don't you go ahead and take your stuff upstairs?" she suggested. Dylan, knowing there was no way to avoid this inevitable moment, silently picked up his own suitcase and backpack and slowly walked up the staircase to the second floor and carried his stuff to the room that would be his for the next two days until he returned to San Luis Obispo.

Once he was safely upstairs and out of earshot, Vanessa hesitantly approached Zac and slowly lifted her arms, wrapping them around his neck. "Welcome home," she told him softly. Zac responded by wrapping his own arms around her petite waist and holding her tightly.

"It's good to be home," he told her. "Van, I just want to tell you-"

"Zac, don't. Not now," she said, shaking her head as she pulled back from their embrace. She walked to the closet and reached in, pushing a few of the jackets out of the way and pulling a small duffle bag out from the darkness. Zac's eyes narrowed with curiosity.

"Vanessa, wh-?" he asked.

"I'm going to stay at my house in Studio City for a few days. I have a really straining rehearsal schedule for the next few days and it'll just be easier to stay there. It's closer to the theatre."

Zac just stared at her, his mouth gaped open in surprise, as she closed the closet door and turned back to face him.

"But Van, what about the presentation for Kenny?" he asked. He was of course referring to the upcoming award the two of them had already committed to present to their former director. "We committed to this weeks ago."

"I'm still going, Zac. I'm not backing out. Just have Charles pick me up there. I'll see you in a few days. Shadow, come on!" she called to the small pup, who had made her way into the living room and was resting comfortably on the couch. Upon hearing her name, the small animal came running as fast as her tiny paws would allow.

"Wait, so I won't see you for a few days?" Zac was desperately trying to get her to stay. Never mind the fact that the two of them hadn't seen each other for a week already, but given the added strain on their relationship from the past two days, he was really feeling the pressure to get her to stay longer so they could perhaps work everything out.

"I'll see you later this week, Zac." She walked closer to him and stood on her tip toes to reach him better, placing a gentle kiss on his stubbly cheek before leaning down and connecting Shadow's leash to her collar. She walked to the front door and placed her hand on the knob. Vanessa then opened the door and before she stepped out onto the porch, she turned around once more and said the words Zac had been longing to hear ever since the catastrophe from a couple of nights prior: "I love you."

As his troubled blue eyes met her sorrowful brown ones, Zac could see the hurt and anguish hidden deep within. He also took it as a promising sign that her voice cracked. _So she doesn't want __to leave… _he thought to himself. He was then reminded of his mother's words from the evening prior.

"_Vanessa's a reasonable young woman. She just needs time to process everything."_

"I love you, too," he told her, trying to pour every ounce of love he felt for her into those four words. "We'll talk soon." Zac then watched as Vanessa nodded her head before she closed the door behind her and Shadow and suddenly he couldn't wait for the next two days to pass. Once the night of the award presentation came, she would have no choice but to talk to him. His only prayer was that she would be willing at that time.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hello, all. Here I am again. Just a few things. First of all, I own nothing from this. Not Zac, not Vanessa, nothing. And again I say: DARN IT! WHY NOT? Also, I did a little bit of internet research on Vancouver and tourist spots, so if you live there and I got something wrong, then please forgive me. Hopefully I did it justice... And lastly, I realize the award presentation for Kenny was awhile before Zac and Dylan went to Hawaii, but for storyline purposes, it's happening now. So there! With all that out there, let me say one more thing- enjoy and please don't hesitate to let me know what you think. I've actually reached a point where my family life and all the legal stuff going on is really taking over and making me depressed (I'm not ashamed to admit it. That is the first step, right?), so fanfiction has become my escape. Please keep all of that in mind as I try hard to finish this story. Thank you for the support and remember to KTZLF! **_

_**Chapter 5**_

Zac stood there watching his girlfriend walk out onto the porch and down the sidewalk to her car. _How did I not notice her car earlier when we got here? _he thought to himself. Lost in his thoughts, he cringed as he heard the heavy oak door slam closed after Vanessa's escape, wondering how much foreshadowing that sound held to his relationship with her. He walked to the door and placed his fist on it, followed soon after by his forehead. He proceeded to hit his head against the barrier a few times, before releasing the frustrated sigh he had been holding in. He pounded the door with a tight fist and pushed his body off his temporary support system. Zac began to cross the room and pace the length of the floor as he heard the engine of Vanessa's car disappear further into the distance as it took her- yet again- further from him. Only this time it was a physical distance.

Dylan emerged from his room just in time to hear the loud slam and descended the stairs as Zac punched the door. He could only imagine the frustration that Zac was feeling. Taking a deep breath, he interrupted his brother's pacing before speaking and making his presence known.

"Where's Nessa?" he asked.

Zac paused only long enough to pass a quick glance in Dylan's direction before resuming his pacing. "She left," he told him, trying to no avail to hide the disappointment in his voice and eyes as he walked back and forth.

"She left? Where did she go, the store to get stuff for dinner?"

"No, man. She _left._ Okay?" He paused as he brought his arms up in the air, hoping to emphasize his hurt and frustration to Dylan. "She went back to Studio City and is staying at her place for the next few days."

"A few days? What does that mean, exactly?"

"That means that she doesn't want to be around me. She said she'd see me in tomorrow when we have to go to the award thing for Kenny. Told me to have Charles pick her up there."

He reached up to run his fingers through his hair as he proceeded to pace in the other direction and caught a glimpse of one of his favorite pictures of the two of them together. It was taken the previous summer when they were up in Vancouver filming their respective movies at the same time. He walked slowly towards the mantle where the picture frame rested and picked it up, studying it as he thought back to the evening the picture had been taken.

_He had made her promise when they found out they would be arriving at different times that she would do no sightseeing until he got there so they could enjoy the city together and she reluctantly agreed. So for her first three and a half weeks in the city, she filled her evenings with dinners in, movies, and long phone conversations with Zac, counting down the days until he would be there, too, and could finally put an end to her boredom. He had been in the city for almost a week and she for a month when they went out one evening. _

_They had gone downtown to the Lookout and rode the popular glass elevator to the top of the Harbour Centre to enjoy a romantic, relaxing dinner at the Top of Vancouver Revolving Restaurant before taking a walk along the deck and appreciating the breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean and North Shore Mountains in the distance. They stopped at one point and Vanessa leaned with her forearms resting on the railing as Zac caged her in with both of his arms on either side of his girlfriend as she pointed at something in the distance. Zac leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her temple, taking pleasure in watching her enjoyment, while she closed her eyes and let out a contented sigh as she tilted her head slightly. Zac took that as an invitation and moved his lips to her neck. Vanessa brought her hand up to thread her fingers through his hair as he continued his assault on her neck. Just as things were about to get a little too comfortable for the public eye, a local paused in her passing and watched the very much in love couple. When Vanessa started giggling at something Zac had whispered in her ear, he pulled back laughing himself and glanced around, spotting their audience of one._

"_Oh, I'm sorry," he quickly apologized for their public display of affection._

"_Oh, non. Je m'excuse," she told them with a slight blush to her cheeks, almost embarrassed at having been caught staring. "C'est très beau à regarder." _

"_Oh, hey, she speaks French. She doesn't know what I'm saying to her," Zac told Vanessa as she just giggled again and rolled her eyes at his antics._

"_Non, I understand . I just… how you say? Um, no speak well?" she asked questioningly, hoping they understood what she was trying to say._

"_Oh," Zac said, nodding his head in understanding._

"_You deux very… uh, beautiful?" she said, hoping she gave the right description._

"_Thank you very much," Zac started, before quickly correcting himself. "Um, merci beaucoup?" he questioned, hoping it was the correct phrasing._

_The lady smiled at his attempt to properly pronounce the language. "You're welcome."_

"_Ma'am, would you mind taking a picture of us with the mountains in the background?" Vanessa spoke up, holding her camera out._

"_Oui. Of course." She reached her hand out and retrieved the camera from Vanessa _

"_Van, we have plenty of pictures of the two of us," Zac started to complain._

"_Hush, you. All those picture are so… posed, and hair, and makeup, and like twenty people around. This one is just you and me as we are. Get used to it; there's going to be a lot of pictures taken of us from that camera right there while we're here." She reached out and tapped the camera that the woman was holding with her finger to make her point._

"_But Van-" he started to protest, but stopped when he saw the famous pout that he knew turned him into a puddle of mush whenever she wore it on her facial features. He let out a sigh when he looked in her deep brown eyes._

"_Please?" she begged. "Baby Boo, I promise I'll make it up to you later," she said seductively, running a perfectly manicured finger down his arm. _

"_He's a goner whenever I pull out the 'Baby Boo' card," she thought to herself._

_Sure enough, as soon as she began to run her finger down his arm, he lifted his head to the sky and let out an "Ah, geez," and she knew she had him right where she wanted. "Fine, but you owe me," he told her._

"_Of course I owe you," she told him with a wink and a sly smile as she turned and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist as they beamed at the person on the other side of the camera, neither able to believe that they were lucky enough to not just visit the amazing city, but actually be temporary residents for the next almost five months or so. _

Dylan's voice brought him back to his lonely reality. "Zac? Dude, I've been talking to you. Are you okay?"

"No, man, I'm not okay. I just don't get it."

"Don't get what?"

"Look at this picture and tell me what you see." He tossed the picture onto the leather couch and Dylan picked it up. He knew instantly what the picture was. Vanessa was quick to email it to their parents later that same evening and Starla and Gina both printed it and rushed out to find frames to display it in their own homes. Dylan saw the picture everyday for the past year and knew exactly what his brother was going for.

"I see two people happily in love," Dylan told him.

"Why doesn't she get it, Dyl?"

"Get what?"

"How do I get it across to her? How can I make her understand that _she_ is all I want? That girl in the picture from the other night doesn't matter to me, but she won't give me the chance to tell her that."

"Do you remember what Mom said last night?" Zac just rolled his eyes and turned until he was looking out the large window that overlooked the ocean. "Zac, what did Mom say last night?"

"Dylan, I'm not twelve. You don't have to remind me of what Mom said."

"So you do recall that she told you that Nessa just needed some time? Dude, maybe she's just trying to work all her thoughts out in her head and get them in order before she says anything to you. Maybe she's afraid she'll say something that will really destroy what you two have."

Zac took in a deep breath as he pondered his brother's words. "Yeah," he said softly. Dylan approached him from behind and clapped his hand on his older brother's shoulder.

"Zac, you're home, Bro. She was here when you got here. She waited on us to get back which means she wanted to see you. Go clear your head on the beach and just be happy that you're back where you can see her face to face. It'll all work out, Man. You're home." Having said his peace, Dylan turned and walked back upstairs, leaving his brother to process what he just said.

_He's got a point,_ Zac thought to himself as he watched the waves. _Just keep telling yourself that she needs time. She'll be ready soon. Just don't push her._ Taking a deep breath, Zac made his way outside and out onto the deck, kicking off his Rainbow flip flops before walking down the steps and taking a step onto the sandy beach. He enjoyed the feel of the sand between his toes as he walked to the edge of the ocean, letting the water run up to his ankles. He took a deep breath and only one thought ran through his mind:

_Soon, Van. Please, soon._

Vanessa waited until reached the stop sign at the end of the street and the house was fully out of view before she allowed the tears that she had been holding back finally fall.

_I'm proud of you, Van, _she told herself. _You actually managed to hold it together back there. Damn you. _

She shook the thoughts from her head as the car behind her softly honked to gain her attention. Waving her hand in the air as an offered apology, she proceeded to make a right turn onto the main road. It wasn't long before she was on the Pacific Coast Highway headed in the direction of her parents' home. She reached a red light and took the opportunity to pull a napkin from the glove box and wipe her eyes, pull her long, thick locks into a ponytail, and put the top of her black Audi convertible down in hopes that the wind would lift her spirits somewhat before she reached her former home. She was determined to be in a good mood before she faced either of her parents. The last thing she needed was for them to pick up on the fact that she had been crying- again. She was not in the mood for another one of their lectures.

"Am I ever in the mood for one of those?" she asked her reflection in the rear view mirror, before rolling her eyes. "Great, Van. Now you're talking to yourself. Nice." As the light turned green, she slowly pressed down on the accelerator and continued the drive to Westgate Road. Fifty minutes later, she pulled into the familiar driveway and turned off the car, making sure to grab her purse as she climbed out. She slipped her key in the lock and opened the door.

"Mom? Dad? Stellz? Is anyone here?" she called out to the occupants, announcing her arrival.

"I'm in here, Ness." Vanessa walked through the house following the sound of her mom's voice and found her in the sun room, watering the plants.

"Hey, Mom," she greeted as she crossed the room to give her mom a kiss on her offered cheek.

"Hey, honey. What brings you by?" Gina questioned her oldest.

"Just stopping by on my way home."

"Your way home? But I thought Zac and Dylan were getting back today?"

_Here comes the inquisition,_ Vanessa thought with a sigh as she sat down in the cushioned, wicker chair in the corner of her Mom's favorite room. "They did."

"So? Where are they?"

"They're in Malibu, Mom." She could feel herself getting exasperated.

"Why are you not there with them?"

"Mom! Seriously? Does it matter?"

"Vanessa, I'm just concerned about you, honey. That's all."

"Then stop with the third degree here, okay? Please?"

Gina sighed, put the spray bottle down on the table, and came to sit next to Vanessa. "Well, that was _far _from the third degree, but whatever... Sweetie, I'm sorry. Like I said, I'm just worried."

"I know you are, Mom," she said softly, dropping her eyes to the floor and staring at her feet.

"How was Zac when you saw him?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she responded softly.

"Honey-"

"Mom, look, I saw him and he looked good. Great even, okay? I told him that I was staying at the house instead of in Malibu. Is that what you want to hear?" Vanessa felt her voice rise. She rarely raised her voice to her parents- she respected them too much- and felt terrible for speaking to her mom this way, but sometimes her parents really pushed her buttons.

"Why are you not staying in Malibu? I know you and Zac and you two have been separated for a week. Are you sure you actually saw him and spoke to him? Usually you two barely say hello to each other before you begin to- Well, you know what I mean." Gina immediately blushed at the thought of where her previous statement was leading when she caught Vanessa giving her a petrified look. She knew Zac and her daughter had first slept together a long time ago, but- being the religious and traditional woman that she was- she often was still trying to convince herself that it wasn't true and that Vanessa was still a virgin. It was in that moment that she reminded herself of the young man who was now practically part of the family and had won over not only her and Stella but Greg as well, and she hoped to keep it that way. At the same time she also reminded herself that she did in fact still have another daughter, who had yet to experience true love.

"Mom, I'm just not ready to talk to him, okay? Not yet."

"_Hindi handa? Paano kayo ay hindi handa?" ("Not ready? What do you mean you're not ready?")_

"Mom. Mom! MOM! _GINA!_" At the sound of Vanessa's voice calling her name, Gina stopped with her native language and looked in her daughter's eyes. Content that she had her mother's attention, Vanessa continued. "Chill with the Filipino! I don't understand you when you get all foreign on me, you know that!"

"Well, Vanessa Anne, I'm sorry, but you're being immature."

"What? 'Immature'? How am I being immature, Mom? I'm an adult!" She crossed her arms across her chest. "He's the one who kissed-"

Gina waved off the last part of her pouting comment. "Yes, you are an adult. An adult who doesn't know how to handle her adult relationship."

"What are you talking about, Mom?" Vanessa asked, rolling her eyes. She was quickly getting more and more irritated with this conversation.

"Communication is the key to any relationship, Vanessa." Gina didn't get far in her lecture before she was cut off by the younger version of herself. Vanessa stood from her seat and crossed the room to stand in front of her mom, arms still folded across her chest.

"We've been in this relationship for almost five years, Mother. I think I know how to communicate with _the man I've been sleeping with_!" she yelled, causing her mom to cringe with the added reminder that Zac was in fact her oldest daughter's lover.

"Well then maybe you need to learn to communicate outside of the bedroom because a relationship isn't all about sex!" Gina shot back. "What's gotten into you?"

"You know what, Mom? I didn't come here for this. I gotta go, I'll see you later." Gina watched as Vanessa snatched up her purse and walked out the front door, slamming it behind her. She just stood there staring at the spot where Vanessa had just been standing, lost in her own thoughts about her daughter's relationship.

_Okay, so she's not ready to talk to Zac. But is he ready to talk to her?_

Gina walked through the family room and into the kitchen where the cordless phone was located. She picked it up and dialed the familiar number of the young man who was practically her son-in-law. Her call was answered on the third ring.

"_Gina, hi. How are you?" _Zac asked cautiously. Vanessa's father being the retired fireman that he was often scared the life out of him, but there were times when Greg didn't hold a candle to the traditional Filipino matriarch of his girlfriend's immediate family. Zac feared this would turn into one of those times and instantly turned on the charm.

"I'm well, Zac. Welcome home, by the way."

"_Thank you. It's good to be home," _he said, as the water lapped over his feet.

"Zac, I wanted to talk to you about Vanessa."

_Uh-oh,_ he thought to himself. _"Yes, ma'am? What about her?"_

"She just came by here, Zac, and I really think you need to talk to her."

Zac sighed before giving his reply. _How did I know it would turn into that?_ he thought to himself.

"_Gina, I've tried to. I really, really want to talk to her, but she told me she needs time." _He paused taking a deep breath before continuing. _"She told me she'll see me in a few days at the award presentation for Kenny. I'm hoping that on that night she'll be ready. I don't know what else to do and that's tearing me up, to be honest with you."_

"Zac, why are you waiting?" she asked him sincerely.

"_Something Mom said the other night." _

"What's that?"

"_She said that Vanessa's a very reasonable woman and that maybe she just needs time to get her thoughts in order and that I should just give her that time. She'll come when she's ready."_

"Starla's a very smart woman," Gina told him.

"_Yeah, she is."_

"But Zac, I'm Vanessa's mother. And this time I disagree with Starla. I don't think you should wait. I think there's more to it than just you kissing another woman."

"_What do you mean?"_ he asked Gina, genuinely confused.

"There was just something in her eyes, her demeanor. I don't know, Zac. I know Vanessa and can read her like a book. She's hiding something, and I strongly suggest you go to her and find out what that something is."

Zac processed what Gina was telling him before speaking again. _"I hear you, Gina, and I understand what you're saying. I just don't want Van to feel like I'm pushing her. I want to give her the space she needs and let her come to me when she's ready. I'm afraid if I don't do just that-"_

"Zac, I'm just afraid that this _something _that Nessa has on her mind will end up being much bigger than even she will know how to handle. Give her her space, if you feel that's the right thing to do for right now. But just make sure you're not giving her too much space."

The two ended their call with Zac promising to come by the following day to visit for awhile- of course Gina insisting he do so while Vanessa was at rehearsal; she didn't want to stir the pot anymore than she already had. He had souvenirs for Stella and wanted to be able to give them to her. As he hung up, he looked out into the waves of the ocean in front of him and immediately thought of the one thing that always helped to clear his mind. He turned around and headed back in the direction of the garage, walked inside, and grabbed his Becker surfboard and carried it back out into the water.

Vanessa was standing on the front porch of her parents' home with her back leaning against the door. She felt remorseful for the way she treated her mom and proceeded to bang her head on the door a few times. If she had the time she would have gone back in to apologize for speaking to her that way. Looking at the time on her phone though, she sighed and pushed her self off the door and made the walk back down the sidewalk and got back in her car.

_I don't have time to apologize now. I'll call her later or maybe even stop by or something._

The only problem with apologizing was admitting she was wrong. And while she was wrong in the way she spoke to her mom, she wasn't wrong in her feelings. The same feelings that she had been holding in for quite some time now. She knew she needed to get them out in the open and talk about them- especially with Zac- but the truth was… she was scared. Scared of actually facing her feelings and giving them a voice. Scared of Zac's reaction when the time finally came for the Talk. No matter how she looked at it… Vanessa. Was. Scared.


	6. Chapter 6

**I haven't forgotten about you! I'm sorry it's been awhile. All the stuff that's been going on with my family has taken a turn (and not necessarily for the better, either) and I'm faced with yet another situation. As it all plays out like a very bad episode of Law & Order, I try hard to make time for my precious story, but find that everytime I sit down to write, my mind goes back to real life and I have to delete what I write because I'm not able to focus on it. Well, I'm happy to announce that I started chapter 8 this evening. And since I feel bad for leaving all yall hanging, here's chapter 6! Thanks for being so patient. And as always, I own nothing. **

_**Chapter 6**_

The following morning was no different than any other day in Studio City in the outskirts of Los Angeles. The birds resting in the tree outside her bedroom window woke Vanessa from her slumber as the sun shone through the slits of the blinds in her bedroom. Too bad she wasn't in a deep slumber. She considered herself lucky to have gotten even the two hours of non-consecutive rest that she did.

In addition to being in the great big bed all alone at night, she also had two animals vying for her attention when she turned the lights out. Her toy poodle Shadow always stayed by her feet, but given the fact that Vanessa had Zac's Siamese cat Simon while he had been in Hawaii, Shadow found herself unwillingly in a battle for the prime spot at her owner's feet on top of the comforter at bedtime. Finally, after about three hours of continuous barking at hissing from the animals and reprimanding from Vanessa, Shadow hesitantly became the better pet and gave up her normal spot and came to sprawl out across Zac's pillow next to Vanessa's head. Of course, this had been a common occurrence every night for the past nine days, so her sleep schedule has been very much out of whack, much to her dismay.

She slowly climbed out of bed and walked down the hall to the room she'd turned into the office and turned on the computer. While she waited for it to boot up, she found her rehearsal schedule for _Rent _sitting on the desk and studied it for a moment, reminding herself of the fact that she had rehearsal at 9:30 that morning and a meeting with her manager over breakfast. When the tone from her laptop sounded and alerted her that the computer was ready, she looked at the screen and found a picture of her and Zac in Vancouver- a picture that they had gotten another local to take of them during one of their many date nights- and she was instantly taken back to the time the couple spent while in the Canadian city. One night in particular when the feelings she had been struggling with lately took residence in her heart.

"_Baby, are you ready?" she asked him, as she stepped off the last step and walked into the living room of their temporary home. _

"_Um, yeah. I've been ready for about twenty minutes waiting on you," he told her as he picked up the remote control off it's resting spot on the couch next to him and turned off the television. As he stood from the spot where he was sitting and turned to face her, his breath caught in his throat. He always found himself struggling to breathe whenever he looked at her. She had always been one of the most beautiful women to him and he loved just simply looking at her._

"_Yeah, I'm sorry you had to wait. I had this tremendous shoe/ purse/ jewelry catastrophe and I had to totally change everything."_

"_A catastrophe?" he questioned with one of his eyebrows arched in disbelief. "What kind of catastrophe?"_

"_The ones I had out to wear didn't match the way I thought they did, and then the new pair I got out of the closet didn't match my purse, so I had to change that, and then the purse I got out didn't match-"_

"_Okay, I'm sorry I asked. It must be a female thing when it come to all your accessories or something. I won't understand it even if I wanted to, would I?"_

"_Probably not," she said, as she crossed the room to stand in front of him. "Are you ready?"_

_The two of them walked out the door and almost instantly the screams started. Vanessa and Zac looked around and spotted the insanely huge crowd. It didn't go un-noticed by the young couple that Zac was the only one the crowd cared about. They took in the screams of adoration and finally were able to make out what was being said by one particular fan._

"_Zac, you and I belong together! Vanessa, when are you going back to LA?" Vanessa just rolled their eyes and kept walking- hand in hand- pretending they didn't hear. _

_Vanessa tried to relax for the duration of dinner and put the comment of the one particular fan out of her mind, but was finding it increasingly difficult. Luckily for her, Zac didn't pick up on the change in her attitude. When they returned to the house they had rented for the months they were in Vancouver and had their version of dessert, it didn't take long for Zac to pass out from exhaustion. Vanessa took that time to sneak out onto the back porch and took a seat in one of the glider chairs, looking up at the stars in the night sky. Lost in her thoughts, she quickly started feeling something she'd never felt before. Protectiveness and fear. _

Vanessa shook her head to clear those thoughts. _I can't think about all of that now. I don't have the time. _The sounds from the other room forced her to leave her current position. She walked back down the hall and in the bedroom, only to find Shadow and Simon chasing each other.

"Hey!" she called out, causing the two animals to pause in their game and turn to look at her. "What are you two doing?" Shadow just looked at Mommy and Simon- noticing his nemesis's momentary distraction- jumped from his position on the bed and landed on Shadow's tail, causing to little dog to bark loudly in alarm and turned to jump up on the bed, hoping for her own form of payback. Simon then jumped from the bed onto the night table that sat to the right of the bed and knocked over one of the many framed pictures of Zac and Vanessa that she had positioned around her home.

"Guys! You two need to stop!" She and Zac spent many nights laughing at the expense of their two pets. Separately, they were the best pets anyone could ask for and all they wanted was for the cat and dog to get along- and most times they did. Other times, however, they were nothing more than constant entertainment for the couple as they snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie together. It was always a shared wish of there's for their pets to get along. However, it didn't seem like that would ever happen. Vanessa sighed as she crossed the room and picked up her beloved Shadow off the bed.

"Simon, be good. I'll be right back," she told the Siamese as she walked back toward the bedroom door, receiving a "meow" in response. Walking back downstairs, she got a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and continued on her path to the back door. She opened the door and walked outside onto the patio, setting Shadow down on the concrete. Vanessa opened the plastic bottle and poured some into the red metal bowl that was customized with the dog's name painted in black before turning to face the tiny black face and black eyes. She went to the eight feet tall Rubbermaid cabinet that she had stationed near the back door and reached into the bag of Iams food, filling the measuring cup that was in it, and went back to where Shadow was waiting on her. Vanessa dumped the food into the second bowl and looked at the dog.

"Stay outside, eat, and do your stuff. I'm getting in the shower and I'll be back to let you back in in a few minutes." Shadow just gave her a sad look in response. "Will you relax? Don't look at me like that! You know it breaks my heart to see that look on your face." She leaned down to scratch the puppy between her ears in reassurance and Shadow licked her face in response. "You're not being punished, you spoiled little thing. I just need to separate you and Simon while I can't keep an eye on you. You two will end up tearing my house down if I don't." Shadow licked her face a second time. "Thank you. I love you, too. Now be good." Vanessa then walked inside, made her way back upstairs, and walked through her bedroom door, just in time to see Simon jump back up on the bed and walk towards the headboard, climbing onto Zac's pillow that was just moments before held tightly against Vanessa's chest. The cat spread his front paws out and started kneading at the pillow and stretched as he yawned and looked at Vanessa for her approval. When she quirked her eyebrow at him, he took that as a sign of approval and laid down.

"You miss Daddy, too, don't you?" she asked.

Simon lifted his head and gave out a soft "meow" as Vanessa reached out and scratched him between his ears, an action that Simon always loved and caused him to purr contentedly, as he leaned his head further into her hand.

"I know, Sweet Kitty. I miss him, too. We'll see him soon, though," she told him, more to convince herself rather than the furry cat that currently was laying on her boyfriend's pillow. "We'll see him soon." Vanessa took a deep breath to calm her feelings and continued addressing Zac's pet. "Simon, I'm getting in the shower and Shadow's outside so you two won't cause any trouble. I'll be back in a few. Take your nap and I'll be feed you soon, Lazy Bones." She walked into the bathroom and reached into her spacious shower- the same one that Zac referred to as a "sex shower" because it was so big- and turned on the water. After getting a clean bra and matching pair of panties and her robe, she undressed and stepped under the water, letting out another deep breath as she allowed the water to soak her body and wash away all the emotions and stress from the past few days.

_Focus, Vanessa. You've got rehearsal today and need to concentrate. Just push everything aside until tomorrow._

As soon as those thoughts crossed her mind, Vanessa reached for her shampoo and began her shower ritual.

When Zac woke that morning, he grimaced as the sun shone onto his face through the blinds that Vanessa had picked out for the beach house in Malibu. He flipped onto his back and glanced at the clock on the bedside table, seeing that it read 7_:24_ in bright blue numbers.

_7:24? Seriously? What the hell?_ After he realized that he didn't have his normal daily alarm of the tiny barking of Shadow the Toy Poodle begging to be let out and fed, he began to rack his brain in an effort to figure out why he was awake so early. Finally, the buzzing tone coming from the phone resting on the bedside table fully pulled him into consciousness. He reached for his phone and hit the appropriate button to bring up the incoming text message. Seeing that it was from Gina Hudgens, he sat up, bringing the pillows with him and propping them against the headboard of the lonely bed.

_Breakfast at 8:30. Will you be here? _he read. Glancing at the clock once more, he did some quick calculations before responding.

_It may be closer 9. Leftovers and is it okay for Dylan to come, too? _He hit send and pushed back the covers, stood from the bed, and made his way to the dresser, pulling a clean pair of boxer briefs from the drawer. While on his way into the bathroom, the response came.

_I'll keep plates warm for you both. See you then. _

Zac decided that a response wasn't necessary and set his phone down on the counter and turned the water on, allowing it to warm up. Once he undressed, he climbed under the water, letting out a deep breath as he allowed the water to soak his body and wash away all the emotions and stress from the past few days. When he was thoroughly clean, he reached out for the towel and dried off, tying it around his waist. Zac exited the bathroom and came back into the master bedroom, slipping on his boxer briefs and a pair of shorts. He then made his way down the hall to the guest room that Dylan had inhabited during his stay. He searched the room for something to throw at his brother's face and immediately spotted his wallet sitting on top of the dresser. He picked it up and pitched it, and it landed with a thud on the bed next to Dylan's open mouth, which was dripping with drool.

"Dude, wake up. Breakfast at the Hudgens'. We need to leave in twenty." His announcement earned him a grunt in response, so he tried again.

"Dylan, get up, man. Twenty minutes till I'm gone. Free food."

Another grunt and a mumbled "Get out". Zac let out a frustrated sigh before he smirked at the idea that just popped in his head.

"Get up, or the towel comes off. And there's nothing underneath," he warned. A terrified Dylan shot up out of the bed frantically, tripping over the sheet that had ended up tangled around his legs at some point in the night and falling to the floor.

"I'm up! Don't lose the towel! For the love of all things holy, keep it on!" He crawled on his knees across the floor and looked up at Zac's face, noticing the look on his brother's face. It took a split second for the fact that Zac was indeed not wearing the towel but a pair of plaid Bermuda shorts to register in the mind of the eighteen year old. "You're not even wearing a towel!" he pointed out accusingly.

"But you're up, aren't you?" Zac asked, chuckling.

"Yeah, I'm up. But why?"

"Because we're going to Vanessa's parents for breakfast. Gina texted me a little bit ago and said she'd keep plates warm for us. Get dressed. You have-" Zac paused as he checked the clock beside his brother's temporary bed- "seventeen minutes." He turned to walk back out of the room, only to be stopped by the words that escaped Dylan's mouth. The same words that Zac himself had been wondering ever since he received Gina's text just a short time prior.

"Will Ness be there?"

As Vanessa back her car out of her garage, she reached between the seats and retrieved her rehearsal cd of the music for the show. Putting it in the cd player, she immediately switched to "Out Tonight" and began to sing through her number. She found as of late that singing the music of the show and running through the dance steps in her mind helped her to get ready for the day's rehearsal. It also helped to pass the time during the drive. Before she knew it, she was being shown to the table where her manager Evan was waiting for her. After eating a quick breakfast, the two made sure they discussed Vanessa's promotional spots for _Rent _that were coming up and also kept a few minutes to discuss the rest of the items on Evan's aggenda and finished thier meeting much quicker than anticipated. Vanessa checked the time on her phone and after telling Evan goodbye, walked back to her car and began the drive to Willowcrest Avenue. She was determined to make amends with her mom before the craziness of her rehearsal got underway for the day. As she approached house number 3010, something seemed to be just a little bit out of place to her. As she slowed the car down, the clearer it became to her what that something was: Zac's car.

_What the hell?_ she thought to herself. _Why is he here?_ She began racking her brain, trying to remember if they had plans for that day to spend time with her family. She came up blank.

_Alright, Zac. Not that I mind you hanging out with my family, but seriously? Are you that desperate for me to talk to you? Even after I told you we'd talk soon? You really are going out of your way, aren't you?_ She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she sped the car back to the speed limit and kept driving right past. _I'll just talk to Mom later,_ she decided, while continuing her internal debate. _He always did go out of his way for me…_ she thought with a forlorn sigh. _I guess he deserves props for trying._

Vanessa made her way to the familiar entrance of the neighborhood and before she knew it, she was pulling into the parking lot of the church that was being used for rehearsals before the cast moved the set to the Hollywood Bowl.

"Zac, swear to me!" Stella told the blue eyed man that was sitting next to her on the couch as she reached her hand into the box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts that he'd brought back for her. Receiving a chuckle from her sister's boyfriend in response, she turned her attention to Dylan. "Dywan? Did it weawy happen wike wat?" she asked, covering her stuffed mouth with her right hand.

"What?" Dylan asked, fighting his laughter. Zac, however, failed miserably and laughed so hard his face turned red. Stella swallowed the chocolaty treat and picked up the throw pillow sitting next to her and smacked Zac right in the chest.

"What are you laughing at? That was a very legitimate question! There's no way you two were out at seven in the morning surfing. What time was it really when they got that _People_ cover picture of you?"

"I'm not laughing at the question. I'm laughing because you are way too much like your sister! Why do you two stuff your mouths with those things and then try to talk like anyone can understand you? I'm sorry, I took Spanish in high school, not Gibberish!

"Shut up!" she told him, hitting him with the throw pillow again.

"Hey! Quit hitting me with the pillow! Do you have rocks hidden in there or something? That hurts!"

"Oh, whatever! You can't even feel the pillow hitting you. With those abs, I'd be surprised if you feel a penny hit you!" Dylan finally lost his battle of withholding his laughter. Stella and Zac joined him and began laughing themselves.

Zac had been enjoying himself since arriving at the Hudgens' house that morning. Gina's cooking was amazing, as always, and his plate was empty within moments. There was an unspoken agreement in the house since his and Dylan's arrival just a couple of hours prior that no one mention the one round of pictures that had found their way onto the internet and was causing so much grief at the moment between Zac and Vanessa. So instead, Zac and Dylan filled them in on the details of their trip- minus that one fateful night. Zac just couldn't quite shake the feeling that something- or rather some_one_- was missing.

Just as Stella reached her hand into the box of treats from Hawaii a second time, Zac's phone began vibrating in his pocket. He reached in a pulled it out, noticing the small envelope in the right hand corner symbolizing an incoming text message. He tapped a few keys and opened the message, only for his huge grin to slowly be transformed into a sweet smile- the kind of smile he only reserved for one person.

_I hope you're having a good time visiting. I wish I were there with you. I miss you._

Zac pondered her message for a moment, before taking a deep breath and tapping out his own message.

_I wish you were here, too, and I miss you as well. Can I call you? _His brother and Stella continued their picking on each other while he silently watched his phone and waited for a response. After a moment, it vibrated again.

_I'm getting ready to go into rehearsal, so not right now. Later?_

_Later when?_ was his response. After another tension filled moment of waiting, another response came to his phone.

_I love you._ Three simple words.

The same three words that Zac would never tire of hearing come from her mouth or that he would never tire of saying. He had several moments when that phrase was his favorite. First thing in the morning when he would roll over in bed and see her sleeping peacefully with her long dark hair cascading over her arms and shoulders, and as her eyes slowly fluttered open, the first words to come out of his mouth were "Good morning, beautiful. I love you." Or even when they were riding in the car on their way to a red carpet event- he would take her hand in his and place a gentle kiss on the back while she reached up with her other hand and would run it through his hair and he would softly whisper to her "You look amazing tonight" and her simple response would be to give him a soft smile and gently say "I love you". Or when they were making love and he was above her, using the strength of his forearms to hold his weight so he could place a whisper soft kiss to her lips, look deep in her eyes as he pulled back, and watch the euphoria take residence on her face and her eyes roll back in pleasure as he entered her and declared his love for her with as much force as he had behind his thrusts.

Those were times when the simple three word phrase was his favorite, and this was soon to be added to the list: when there was a disagreement between them and he was trying his hardest to let her know exactly how much he was in love with her. The fact that she said it and the tables were turned meant the world to Zac at that moment.

Zac typed out a simple _I love you, too, Beautiful_ and hit send. There was only one thought that kept running through his mind as he sat on his nearly in-laws couch in the living room of the childhood home of his girlfriend…

_There's still hope,_ he thought to himself, with a smile.


	7. Chapter 7

_Ask and you shall receive, my friends! Here's the latest installment... Enjoy!_

_Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I don't own it. Just the story line._

_**Chapter 7**_

After a phone call from her husband, Gina hit 'end' on her phone and set it on the kitchen counter. She turned her head in the direction of the living room where the noises of the Wii were coming from and made her way into the room where the three youngest people in her house were occupying themselves. She took a deep breath before she started to speak and alert them of her presence and offered up a quick prayer of forgiveness.

_Forgive me for the betrayal I'm about to embark on for Zac and Vanessa's sake._

"Zac? Dylan? Do you two want to stay for dinner, too? You've already been here all day, so why not?"

"Sure, Gina, we'd like that. Thank you," Zac answered- being the spokesperson while his brother was busy with the Wii Sports boxing. He turned his focus back to the television screen and watched as his brother took down his computerized opponent. Gina watched as Stella laughed at the celebratory dance Dylan was currently performing and rolled her eyes with a soft laugh of her own before turning and going back into the kitchen and picking up her cell phone once more. Gina took a deep breath, uncertain of the outcome of this particular phone call. Finding the entry she was looking for, she hit send and listened to the ring back tone on the other end as she waited on an answer.

The day was mostly over for Vanessa. The cast had endured a rigorous rehearsal trying to tap into the emotions for the last part of the show. They blocked "Contact" and moved into the "I'll Cover You" reprise and then skipped ahead to the part where Roger returns to New York City and can't find Mimi, only to find out moments later that she had been living on the streets and was detoxing without her heroine fixation. Those last few moments of the show were the most draining for Vanessa, as she really had to reach way deep down to uncover what Mimi's feelings were all about. She had never connected to a character emotionally like she has Mimi and she took pride in that fact and wanted nothing more than to be as convincing as possible portraying a drug addicted AIDS patient who was on her death bed, and it was for that reason- coupled with everything that was currently going on with Zac- that after running through the last twenty minutes of the show she was feeling such emotional drainage.

As she made her way backstage at 2:30 to change back into her Rainbow flip flops from the two and a half inch leopard print knee length boots that she wore as Mimi during most of the musical, all she could think about was the fact that Mimi's mother didn't know where she was or even if she was dead. At the same moment that she had made the decision to call her own mother and apologize for her attitude earlier in the day, her cell phone rang. Vanessa dug the phone out of her bag and sighed as she saw her mother's picture and phone number appear on the screen.

"Boy, she is good," she said with a sigh, to no one in particular. She hit the green 'accept' button and brought the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Mom. What's up?" she greeted.

"_Hey, Sweetie. How was rehearsal?"_

"Draining," she answered without hesitation. "Very emotionally draining."

"_Vanessa, why don't you join us for dinner?" _Gina said.

"Well, Mom, that depends. Is Zac still there?"

"_Vanessa, that's not impor-"_

"Why did you invite him, Mom?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized there was a little more bite to them then she intended. She rushed on trying to retract her words and smooth them over. "I mean, I don't mind him hanging out with you guys, obviously, but I'm just curious. Why did you invite him?"

"_Because you two needed to talk and this-"_

"We _will _talk, Mom."

"_Vanessa, don't interrupt me," _Gina warned. _"You two need to talk! I had hoped that by inviting him to a late breakfast and then to stay for lunch and- Oh, well, heck. He's been here this long. Why not invite him to stay for dinner, too?- would have prompted you to come along, too, at some point."_

"I've been at rehearsal pretty much all day, Mom. I thought you knew that. But even still… Like I said, I'll talk to him tonight."

"_You'd better, Vanessa. The longer you put this off, the more hurt Zac is. He's kicking himself over this. And the longer you let him do that, the bigger that bruise will be and the harder to heal." _Gina was wise when it came to relationships. Vanessa often came to her about many of the goings on when she and Zac disagreed. So far, Gina had been right every time in the past. Why should this time be any different?

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "I hear you, Mom."

"_Don't roll you eyes at me, Young Lady!" _Vanessa released a breath that she didn't know she was holding as she instantly felt like a ten year old little girl again. Her mom was always the one who was able to see right through her and Stella as they were growing up. _"I can feel you rolling them. You're on thin ice with me Baby Girl, but I'm giving you the advice right now: fix your problems with Zac and the stuff with me will come later. Vanessa, I love you very much. I love Zac, too. He's become one of my own in the past almost five years. You know that. All I want is to see you two happy. It's hurting me to see you two hurting. Promise me you'll talk to him tonight? Please?"_

Vanessa let out another deep sigh and then swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as she listened to her mother talk. Her voice cracked with emotion when she finally answered. "I promise, Mom. I'll come for dinner. But one request. Can you kind of encourage Zac to go home?"

"_Vanessa-"_ Gina began.

"Mom, please," Vanessa pleaded. "Just-" she paused and released a sigh "Mom, we have the award presentation for Kenny tonight. I'll talk to him then. I promise. Just, please…"

"_I'll talk to him."_

"Thank you, Mom. I want to run home and check on Shadow and Simon and make sure they're okay and then I'll be over."

"_Sounds good. We'll see you soon. I love you, Sweetheart." _

"I love you, too, Mom."

The two women ended their conversation and hung up. Vanessa picked up her bag, dropped her phone down inside, and walked back to her car and got in.

After hanging up her phone once more, Gina moved to the kitchen counter to begin the dinner preparations. It was only a few moments later when she remembered that Greg had used the last bit of milk in his coffee that morning and that was one ingredient that she needed. She moved back into the living room and addressed the group.

"Guys, I need to run to the store. I'll be right back."

"Gina, I'll go. You stay and do what you can for dinner. What do you need?" Zac volunteered as he stood and moved into the kitchen to get the list from Gina. Once he was gone, she began slicing the vegetables that she would include in the vegetable lasagna that she knew was Vanessa's favorite. If she was going to pull off this plan of hers, it wouldn't hurt to win her daughter over with good food. It's never failed in the past, why should it fail now?

Gina was lost in her thoughts about her daughter and her boyfriend when she heard the front door open and voices in the living room. She put down the knife that she was using and moved into the other room to see what was going on and was greeted by Vanessa standing in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips. When she caught sight of her mother standing in the room from the corner of her eyes, Vanessa turned her attention in her direction. Gina racked her brain to come up with a time when she'd seen such fire in her daughter's eyes and came up empty.

"You planned this, didn't you?" Vanessa spat out.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Gina said calmly.

"Mom, I told you I would talk to him tonight. I asked you to please encourage him to not be here and that I'd talk to him tonight. I pulled up and didn't see Zac's car, so I thought that maybe you'd actually listened. I saw Dylan and realized that obviously that's not the case! I don't need you meddling!"

"Vanessa, calm down. I'm not meddling. I just thought that since you needed to eat and the two of them needed to eat-"

"You know what, Mom? Why can't you just stay out of my love life and let me deal with it?"

"Because you haven't been dealing with it!" For the first time since this all began with her daughter, Gina finally allowed the tone of her voice to match that of Vanessa's. As hard as she'd fought to keep her tone even, she finally lost that battle. She and Vanessa competed in a stare down, while Dylan and Stella just watched. Stella slowly brought herself up on her tiptoes and reached an arm out to grasp onto Dylan's shoulder in an effort to balance herself as she leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"Be ready," she told him.

"Ready for what?" he asked.

"Be ready to jump in and help."

Dylan slowly turned his head to look at his brother's girlfriend's sister. "Do I have a death wish that I don't know about? Why would I jump into a spewing volcano like that one? No thank you, my friend."

Stella simply rolled her eyes at Dylan's argument and attempted to jump in on her own. She and Vanessa have spent various points of their lives playing mediator in arguments between each other and their parents. It was for that reason that she felt she had some sort of experience in dealing with the current situation.

"Nessa? Mom was just trying to help-"

"I don't care, Stella! I asked her to please back off and she didn't!" Vanessa turned her icy stare to her sister.

"Vanessa Anne-" Gina began, only to result in Vanessa turning back to continue shooting daggers at her mother.

"I get that, but Ness, it's just that we all love you and really want you to be happy again. That's all Mom was doing. Don't be angry at her for trying to help you in her own crazy way."

The heated gaze between mother and daughter was broken by the sound of the front door opening. Zac could instantly feel the tension in the room as he unknowingly walked into the mine field. He walked into the kitchen to put the groceries on the counter and came back in the living room and approached Dylan.

"What's going on?" he asked as he kept his eyes glued on his girlfriend.

"I don't know, dude, but something tells me it's not good."

Vanessa's brown eyes met Zac's blue from across the room and she turned her back on her mother and walked across the room to the door. She placed her hand on the door knob and glanced back at him over her shoulder. With a quick tilt of her head, she turned her attention back in front of her and opened the door, stepping out onto the porch. Zac picked up on it and instantly understood the silent signal that his girlfriend had sent him from across the room. Trying hard to keep his excitement at bay over the fact that she was finally willing to talk to him, he slowly made his way to the two windows in the living room. He shut the blinds and cast a look back at the other three, silently daring them to disturb what was about to occur between him and Vanessa before going to the door. He stepped out on the concrete slab and shut the door behind him, leaving Stella, Dylan, and Gina on the other side, all three sharing looks and wondering what was about to happen.

As soon as he shut the door, he turned around and saw Vanessa leaning against one of the pillars and slowly walked up behind her. He reached his hands out just itching to touch her, but wasn't sure how she would react to that just yet. Taking a deep breath, he closed his hands into fists and brought them up to his forehead, causing his muscles to flex under the sleeves of his tee shirt. Her favorite tee shirt. If he was asked, he wouldn't deny the fact that he had an ulterior motive when he got dressed that morning. Just wearing her favorite shirt made him feel closer to her, even when they were metaphorically miles away. He let out a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't know what to say, Van," he started.

She slowly turned around to face him and looked him in the eyes. "You don't have to say anything, Zac. Not right now," she told him softly.

"What can I do?" he asked, his voice cracked with the emotion that he fought hard to hold back.

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"What can I do to make everything better? I miss you, Baby. I need you back." He finally gave in to the urge to touch her, and reached his hands out to gently run his hands down her arms and closed his eyes at the feel of her bare skinned arms under his hands.

"Zac, Baby Boo, there's nothing you can do. I've already told you it's all me. This whole mess is my fault." As his hands ran down her arms and reached hers, she laced their fingers together, joining their hands for the first time in a week and a half.

"Van, how is this your fault? I'm the one that got caught in-"

"-in the wrong place at the wrong time. I know that. Zac, this has nothing to do with the picture or the girl."

"I- I'm not sure I understand," he said, shaking his head. "Vanessa, if the pictures have nothing to do with- with this," he paused as he passed his free hand back and forth between the two of them, "with whatever this is, then what's going on?"

"Zac, the issues we've got going on right now are not _our _issues. They're _my _issues. I've had all these thoughts and feelings running around inside my head for a while now and these pictures just brought them all to the forefront. I don't want to shut you out."

"Then don't," he begged. "Baby, don't shut me out. Talk to me, please. We agreed a long time ago that we would talk about anything that comes up."

"Zac, I want to talk to you. I do, I promise. I'm just am trying to sort everything out first. I'll talk to you soon."

"When is soon, Van?" He released her hands and threw his own up in the air in annoyance. "You told me that yesterday. Define soon." Zac was quickly loosing his patience with that one four letter word.

She let out a frustrated sigh. "Zac, I don't know. I'm sorry. I wish I could give you more but I can't. I'm trying hard to work through all this so that I can talk to you."

Zac took a deep breath before continuing. "Fair enough," he conceded. "I'm sorry." The two shared a look before Vanessa finally gave into her emotions and moved into the comfortable spot that was his arms. The spot that she knew all too well and found comfort in frequently. He hesitated before wrapping her in his embrace and breathed in the fragrance of her Warm Vanilla Sugar body care items from Bath and Body Works.

"I love you, Van. Whatever this is, we can work through it," he told her as a whispered promise in her ear.

She took a step back and looked up at his face, bringing her hand up to cup his cheek, causing him to lean in to her familiar touch, and offered him a small smile. "I know. I love you, too."

She stood on her tiptoes and leaned up to give him a gentle kiss. A kiss of promise, a kiss of comfort, a kiss of reassurance. As he tried to deepen the kiss, she pulled back and ran her thumb across his lips. She gave him a small smile and said the one four letter word that he was quickly coming to dislike.

"Soon," she told him.

He released another sigh- this one of frustration- and looked at his feet with his eyes closed. His mother's words from two days before came back to him.

"_Vanessa's a reasonable young woman. She just needs time to process everything… don't give up, but give her time, too."_

_I hate it when she's right,_ he thought to himself, as he slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head so he could look in her eyes again.

"Okay," he agreed with a nod. "Soon. I'll see you tonight?" he asked.

She nodded and leaned up again and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Bye, Zac. I love you."

"I love you, too, Babe. I'll be there with Charles at 5:30 to pick you up."

"Okay," she said as she walked back to the car and he watched her through the driver's side window as she reached for her _Rent _rehearsal cd and put it in. As she pulled out of the driveway, "Without You" sounded through the speakers. As Vanessa thought about her life without Zac, she felt tears spring to her eyes and Zac could see, despite the tinting of the windows, as she reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes. With a final wave in her direction, he turned and walked back into the house.

When he opened the door, he saw Stella and Dylan standing at the window, looking out onto the porch through the blinds they had opened in time to witness the brief kiss that their siblings exchanged.

"Spying?" he questioned them, watching as they practically fell over each other in their scramble to back away from the window. Zac let out a chuckle as Dylan fell to the floor as he tripped over Stella's feet.

"What happened?" Stella spoke up first.

"Are you being nosey or concerned?"

"Both?" she asked hopefully.

Zac shook his head and rolled his eyes as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his focus to the entry way of the dining room that set between the living room and kitchen and saw Gina standing there with her arms folded across her chest.

"She's not staying, is she?"

"No, she's not," Zac told her. "She had to go back and get ready for our thing tonight." The two of them moved their conversation into the kitchen and Gina immediately started moving around getting back to her dinner preparations as Zac washed his hands to help.

"She still didn't tell you anything, did she?" Gina asked him. Zac dropped his head to look at the floor.

"No," was his simple one word answer. When Gina just looked at him with arched eyebrows- which he knew to be her 'What are you leaving out of the story?' look- he continued. "She just says they're her issues and she's trying to work it out in her mind before we talk. She promised we'd talk 'soon'." He used his fingers to put air quotes around that much hated word.

Gina wiped her hands on the hand towel and crossed the room to the sink where Zac was standing. She placed a hand on his shoulder and he turned around to look in the eyes of the woman who's face he often imagined to be Vanessa's face in twenty years. She reached her hands up and placed them on both his cheeks.

"She loves you. There's no question in my mind about that. I don't want you to question it either. Do you hear me?" Zac nods with his face still between Gina's palms.

"Yes Ma'am," he told her honestly.

"Good. Now finish helping me fix dinner. You've gotta eat before this thing with Kenny tonight."

"Um, Gina," he began as he reached up to rub the back of his neck "it's a _dinner _and awards presentation. Besides, I told Van that Charles and I would be at her place at 5:30." Gina responded not with words, but with a glare that looked terrifyingly familiar to him, prompting him to pick up the squash he'd been washing moments earlier. He tried to hide his smile as he felt the urge to acknowledge the look that Vanessa has obviously inherited from her mother. "Yes Ma'am," he again repeated the words of respect, causing Gina to turn back to the cutting board that held the other vegetables.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8**_

As she walked through the door of her expansive Studio City home, Vanessa went through the kitchen, tossing her purse on the granite counter top of the island situated in the middle of the room, and into the living room and made her way straight to the mantle of the dark oak fireplace in the middle of the wall facing her. She picked up a picture of her, her mom, and her sister that was taken at the after party of the premiere of _Me and Orson Welles_ the previous October. As she fingered the face of Gina, she voiced the one thought that was running through her mind:

"You're me in twenty-three years, you crazy woman! I love you to pieces, Mom, but God help my future children!"

As she put the framed picture back in its place, she looked at the watch on her wrist and checked the time.

_3:15. Just over two hours. Perfect,_ Vanessa thought to herself.

She walked back into the kitchen and picked up her purse and walked up the stairs. Walking into the bedroom, Vanessa opened the door to her spacious walk in closet- the same one that Zac constantly picked on her about it being the size of a miniature department store- and crossed the floor to her collection of many handbags. After studying them for several minutes, she pulled two off the shelf and walked over to the other side of the closet and held them both up to the pewter colored strapless dress trying to decide which she should carry that night. After making her decision and getting all her accessories together, Vanessa then exited the closet and walked into the bathroom to get ready for her shower. She plugged in and turned on her flat iron so it could be heating up in the meantime. Once she was under the steady stream of water coming from the massaging shower head, she allowed her shoulders to relax finally and her mind began to wander to the meaning behind tonight's function.

A dear friend of hers and Zac's was being honored for his work with the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital tonight. When Kenny Ortega got word that he was receiving an award at a banquet, he'd made one simple request: that it be presented to him by Zac and Vanessa. St. Jude's contacted the couple two months ago and, of course, they jumped at the opportunity to not only see their former director and mentor, but to also be a part of this special night for him. They had also found out that one of their former co-stars would be there too. Monique had been doing a lot of charity work lately as well, and made every effort possible to be in attendance at any charity event that she was available for.

Zac and Vanessa had talked about the upcoming event on a few different occasions. When they were contacted by the representative from St. Jude and found out that some of the children that the foundation were currently helping would be there, Vanessa had gone back and forth in her mind about whether she thought she'd emotionally be able to handle it or not.

"_Why don't you think you'd be able to handle it?" Zac asked her one night as they sat on the couch in her media room with the television on. Zac was sitting with his body turned forward while Vanessa was leaning against the arm of the couch, her body turned so she could face him as she leaned against the arm of the couch with her legs propped up in his lap. When Vanessa mentioned concerns of their upcoming St. Jude's function for about the fifth time that week alone, he turned his face to look directly at hers._

"_I don't know. I just keep thinking about all of those kids that will be there. They're so young and so innocent, yet they're the ones who have to suffer the most. I just don't think that I'll be able to look at them and interact with them and not feel my heart break. I won't be able to hold it together," she admitted._

"_Van, the St. Jude's rep said that the kids that are coming are those that are on their way to recovery. Some of the more terminal cases won't even be allowed out of their beds."_

"_I know, but we did get the call yesterday letting us know that one of the kids had to drop out because his red blood count was low or something like that. What if we're there and we're playing with the kids and something happens? How do we react to that without scaring the other children?" Zac looked into her eyes and saw genuine fear and concern. _

"_Baby, will it make you feel better if we go down there in person and talk to the rep instead of over the phone? If you and I actually visit St. Jude's and witness everything first hand?" he asked as he soothingly ran a hand across her leg. When he saw his girlfriend give a small nod, he continued. "Okay, then I'll call her tomorrow and set up a time when we can go down there."_

"_Thank you," she said meekly._

"_No, thank you," he responded._

"_For what?" she asked, slightly confused._

"_For being so compassionate," he told her sincerely, as he leaned forward to place a gentle kiss to her lips. "I love you."_

"_I love you, too."_

Now, as she thought back to that night and their subsequent visit, Vanessa was actually becoming more and more excited about the function and what it meant. After their visit in person to St. Jude's and their meeting with the representative, Nicole, Vanessa had started spending some of her free time at the hospital on her own accord playing with and reading stories to the children that were staying there and being cared for.

Vanessa turned off the water and climbed out of the shower, quickly drying herself off and wrapping the red, oversized, cotton towel around her slender body. As she reached for her body lotion and began the task of rubbing it into her skin, she heard a noise behind her and jumped, grasping at the counter top to keep from falling over. As she turned, she came face to face with the person who had startled her.

"Geez, Zac!" she exclaimed, bringing her right hand up to her chest in an attempt to calm her speeding heart rate. "What are you doing here? I thought you were coming at 5:30?"

"I was," he started to explain. "But I for one find it very hard to get dressed for a charity function when my suit and fashion coordinator are over here. I mean, I can get ready at my place, but I don't think jeans and a tee shirt would be very appropriate for tonight."

Vanessa let out a sigh as she continued to apply the lotion. "No, it wouldn't be. I'm proud of you for realizing that without my help," she attempted to joke at his fashion sense, or lack thereof. It was a common joke between the two of them that he only kept her around so that he would look decent whenever he left the house. It wasn't that he had poor taste in clothes, but that he sometimes lacked the knowledge of what he should wear when. That's where Vanessa came in: He picked out his outfit and she gave the final approval.

"Hey, I did pretty well in Hawaii," he jokingly argued back.

"That because when you weren't looking I snuck in your suitcase and stuck little post it notes on each item of clothing telling you when to wear it," she replied as she pulled the blow dryer from its place in the drawer and plugged it in.

"I didn't notice any post its."

"Maybe the post it fairy took them."

"Yeah, the post it fairy named Dylan," he said, receiving the hum of the blow dryer as Vanessa turned it on in response. That was her way of telling him they were through talking for the moment. He hoisted himself up on the counter top next to the sink and waited patiently for her to finish blow drying her long, thick locks. When she finally turned of the blow dryer almost a full ten minutes later, Zac continued in his attempt to make small talk.

"Going straight tonight?" he asked, motioning in the direction of where the flat iron was sitting, hot and ready for use. He watched as Vanessa piled her hair up on top of her head, keeping a small section free, and secured it with a clip. She picked up the flat iron and started at the top near her scalp and slowly ran it down toward her shoulder.

"Change of pace," she told him, as she readjusted her hair so she could get another section out of the clip. "I go natural all the time. I don't do straight much anymore."

"I like your hair when it's straightened." His attempt at a compliment apparently fell on deaf ears. His frustration mounted even more, as he looked down at his hands, which were folded in his lap, and took several deep breaths to control himself before he spoke again.

"Okay, Van, look. I'm trying hard here, okay? I'm taking into consideration that you need time or space or whatever to sort everything out. I get that. I understand that it's hard for you to sometimes admit certain things about yourself. But you know what? I'm sick of waiting. I've done nothing but wait for two days- actually longer if you count the last day in Hawaii when the pictures came out and I was trying to get in touch with you. You keep saying 'soon', but I'm sick of waiting, and I've been pretty damn patient about it if you ask me. I don't know what else I can do. I'm drowning here, Babe. I need a life- line, something."

Vanessa stood for a few minutes just operating the flat iron, not saying a word. Zac knew that what he'd said must have caused some sort of reaction in her heart and her brain by the way her eyes darted back and forth, looking anywhere but at him as he talked. Finally as she straightened the last little section of her hair, she put down the flat iron and unplugged it so it could cool. Without saying a word, she walked into the closet and pulled a wooden box from the top shelf. After carrying it back to the counter and setting it next to where he sat, she opened the box and peered inside, taking a quick mental inventory of its contents, making sure nothing was missing. Zac remained perched on the counter top, watching her every move.

The box was oak in color and was about the size of a shoe box. He wasn't sure that in the almost five years the two of them had been together that he'd ever seen this box. He could tell by looking at the outside that the box was several years old, as it was decorated with various stickers, most of which were worn and faded.

"_High School Musical_ stickers, Van? Really?" he teased as he fingered a sticker of Troy and Gabriella from the first movie. He looked at her with quirked eyebrows and almost flinched at the look she gave him. "Sorry," he quickly apologized

"Stella put those there years ago. She was only nine when you and I met, remember?" Her tone of voice told Zac that this was not a topic on which he should tease her. His hands immediately lifted in surrender.

"Haven't I ever shown you this box?" she asked, finally taking note of his curiosity. When he shook his head in response, she turned it so he could see its contents. Peering inside the wooden box, he saw different cards, trinkets, movie ticket stubs… all stuff that he would classify as trash. "Dad made it for me as a 'congratulations' when I was cast back in 2005. He thought I'd want something to put all my memories in." She paused and gave him a moment to take in the box's contents.

Zac picked up one of the movie ticket stubs and saw _Avatar_ printed on it. He picked up another that read _Twilight_ and a third reading _Harry Potter Half Blood Prince._ Then he picked up a card and quickly scanned the outside before opening it up and seeing his familiar scrawl of "I love you ~Zac" staring back at him at the bottom.

"Do you know what all this is?" she asked, as she picked up a few of the cards sitting on the top of the pile.

"Well, the card is obviously from me, but what about the rest of it?" he asked.

"This is what Stella and I call my 'Zac Box'," she shyly admitted to him.

"Your 'Zac Box'?" he repeated.

"Every card, at least one pressed flower from every bouquet you've ever sent me, a few of the pictures we've taken together, every magazine cover you've ever done, ticket stubs from every movie we've seen together, it's all in here. Even… let's see, where is it?" Zac watched as Vanessa started digging through the pile of trinkets and noticed when her eyes lit up. He could only deduce that she'd found what she was looking for. His unasked question was answered when she pulled a ticket stub from near the bottom of the pile. He saw the movie title _Transporter 2 _on this one and was instantly curious_. _Not wanting to set her off any further, he waited patiently for her to explain this particular movie stub. He didn't have to wait long.

"This is the first movie you and I ever saw together."

"I thought it was _Wedding Crashers?" _

"No," she said with a slight smile and a shake of her head. "Well, I mean, yes and no. _Wedding Crashers_ was the first movie we saw, but the rest of the cast was there, too. _Transporter 2_ was the first movie you and I went to see together, alone, just the two of us. Notice the date?" Zac looked at the bottom of the stub where she was pointing.

"September 2," he said.

"The day after you kissed me for the first time- as Zac, not Troy- and you asked me to be your girlfriend, officially. So technically this stub is from our first date as a couple."

"How come I've never seen this box?"

She simply shrugged in answer. "I don't know. Don't you have any sappy secrets that you keep from me?"

"Touché. So, not that I don't appreciate you sharing this personal side of yourself with me- because I do. It means a lot to me that you showed me this. But can I ask why?"

Vanessa closed the box and took a deep breath and swallowed before answering. "Zac, I knew before we ever admitted it to each other that I was in love with you. Many of the things in this box happened before your 'heart throb' status came into play and every woman in America fell in love with you. Things were normal back then and I didn't have to share you as much as I do now."

"What do you mean 'share me'?" he asked. Vanessa left the box on the counter and sat down in the chair that was in front of the vanity. The wringing of her hands in her lap clued him into her nervousness.

"Zac, there was one night when we were in Vancouver that I keep replaying over and over in my mind. You may not remember it, but I do. We were going out one night and as we were walking down the street, there was a group of girls that we passed. They immediately started screaming your name and saying things like 'Zac you and I belong together. When will you be done with Vanessa so I can have a turn?' and stuff like that. It just really got me thinking."

"Baby, you know those girls-"

"Zac, please?" she said, holding her hand up to stop him. "Let me finish. I need to get this all out before I can't." He nodded and signaled for her to continue. She took another deep breath before opening her mouth to speak once more. "Baby, it's no secret that ladies think you're just absolutely gorgeous- as well they should. I mean, not just fans, but other celebrities have even hit on you. Some have even hit on you in front of me. I love that my boyfriend is one of the hottest men in America, but it's also a curse sometimes. This is going to sound really 'poor Vanessa, woe is me', but whenever you and I go out- no paps, just you and me- I get pushed off to the side. People pay more attention to you and I'm just- I don't know, I feel… invisible." She paused, trying to get her thoughts reorganized. "I just feel really insecure sometimes. I realize that you could have your pick of any woman in this world, and you chose me and I can't help but wonder why sometimes." She stopped and raised her thumbnail to her lips nervously.

Zac scooted his body across the counter top until he was sitting in front of her and reached out and gathered her hands in both of his, running his thumb across the back of her knuckles comfortingly.

"Zac, when those pictures from Hawaii surfaced, my feelings weren't about the pictures. They brought my insecurities back to the forefront of my mind. All I kept thinking was that it would take just one girl to throw herself at you and-" She stopped and took yet another deep breath as the tears that she didn't realize had been welling in her eyes began to fall. "Just when I was about to be okay with my insecurities, this happened and I didn't know how to deal with everything, so I shut down." She watched through watery eyes as Zac stood and she allowed him to pull her from her seat and wrap her in his embrace. He ran his hands up and down her bare arms comfortingly and allowed her to finally release the emotions that she'd been holding at bay since the day the pictures were released.

"I'm so sorry I shut you out, Zac. I love you so much and I just got scared," she managed to get out in between sobs.

Zac pulled back slightly and squeezed her biceps gently to make sure he had her attention. When he noticed her refusal to look at him, he placed his right index finger under her chin and gently lifted. He waited until she was looking at him before speaking, keeping his finger in place.

"Baby, you're it for me. You know that, right? I don't care what those others girls say or do. There's absolutely nothing or no one that can take me away from you. I love you so much. Your Irish temper and insecurities and all. I've come to learn how to deal with your many mood swings." He paused as she gave a teary chuckle, thinking back to their many mini arguments that were the product of her mood swings that resulted from the Irish blood from Greg's side of the family. "I can't imagine being without you- ever," he finished as he ran his left hand lovingly through her straightened hair.

"I'm so sorry," she said again.

"Shhh," Zac whispered in her ear as he pulled her close to him and wrapped her tight in his arms again. "Van, it's okay. Just let everything out. I'm not going anywhere. We're okay, Baby." He continued to whisper soothing words in her ear and the two just stood there in her spacious bathroom holding onto each other until her tears subsided. Zac didn't release his hold on her until he knew her tears were over. She pulled away slightly and turned her head to look in the mirror and noticed the blotchiness and redness that was evident on her face.

"Oh, great," she said as she leaned in closer to study her appearance. Zac took that opportunity to move and stand behind her, his hands still on her arms. "I'm such a mess."

"I think you're beautiful," he told her as he leaned in to place a gentle kiss on her right shoulder. He let his lips linger against her skin until he felt her body tense.

"Zac!" she suddenly exclaimed, turning in his arms.

"What? You are."

"No, not that!" She flexed her muscles to try and loosen his grip. "You need to get in the shower!"

"Babe, what time is it?"

Vanessa looked at the clock she had resting in the corner of the counter. "4:15. Why?"

"We have an hour and fifteen minutes until Charles gets here. I think I'll be okay if I wait a few more minutes before I get in the shower."

"Oh. Well then that gives you a few minutes to get your suit together and make sure it's ironed and all that."

"Did you hang it up?"

"Yeah, right in there in the closet," she told him, pointing over his right shoulder in the direction of the closet.

"Then it's fine." Taking note of the glare she shot him, he continued. "But if it'll make you feel better, then I'll go check it out. Why don't you wash your face and start on your makeup." He started to walk in the direction of the shared closet when the sound of her voice stopped him.

"Zac?"

"Yeah?" He turned to face her and saw her walking toward him. She reached her hand up to cup his left cheek and slowly pulled his face down so his lips could meet hers. The kiss was slow at first, reminiscent of the few days they'd spent apart. She was the one to deepen the kiss, and he was quick to respond. The two of them stood there, lost in their passionate embrace while their tongues battled, until Zac pulled back first and rested his forehead against hers.

"I may call Charles and tell him to come later." His ragged breathing and the huskiness of his voice informed her of his hidden meaning in that simple statement.

"The kids, Zac." She closed her eyes and breathed out slowly letting him know that she shared his sentiment. "This function is for the kids. And Kenny. We can't be late," she told him with a simple shake of her head.

"Well, you're the one who started it!" he pouted. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him another simple, chaste kiss on his lips.

"And once we get home tonight, I'll be the one to finish it," she told him seductively. "But for now, why don't you get in the shower and calm yourself down." She picked her 'Zac box' up from its resting place on the counter top and started walking back toward the closet to put it back up on the top shelf.

"It'll be a cold shower!" he called after her.

"Whatever makes you feel better for right now, Babe," she yelled back. When she heard the shower turn on, she emerged from the closet and started her makeup routine, knowing that once he emerged, it wouldn't take him long to get ready and she didn't want to keep him waiting on her to finish getting ready too long tonight like she normally did.

As Zac climbed in the shower, Vanessa leaned over to the ipod docking station she had sitting in the corner of the counter and turned it on, quickly finding her "getting ready anthem". She opened her make up drawer and reached in for her moisturizer, and began her routine. Moisturizer, foundation, concealor… she could do this in her sleep. A lot of times, she just rushed through her make up. But tonight, she wanted to take her time. _It's for the kids_, she kept repeating to herself.

As she finished applying the dark eye shadow to her left eye and started on the eyeliner, she heard the sounding of the door bell. Putting the lid back on the liquid eye liner and setting it down, she made her way out of the bathroom and out into the hallway. Hearing the door bell ring a second time, she rolled her eyes.

"I'm coming!" she called out.

As she approached the door, she looked out the window and saw Dylan standing there. Rolling her eyes again, she tightened the tie on her robe and opened the door.

"Hey, Dyl," she greeted him.

Dylan pushed the door open further and let himself in. "Hey, Ness. Look, normally I wouldn't butt in-" he paused as he took notice as Vanessa shot him a look. "Okay, so not often would I butt in-" he tried again, pausing again to see Vanessa's reaction. When she gave a slight nod, he continued. "But this time is not a normal time."

"Dylan-" Vanessa began, but he wouldn't give her the chance to interrupt. He continued, putting a hand up to stop her.

"No, it's my turn. Listen, Ness- I just noticed your makeup is only half done. Why is it only half done?"

"Probably because I was interrupted half way through!" she accused. "Dylan, I love you and you know I always enjoy your company, but I've only got about an hour. Why are you here?"

"Whatever. Listen, I understand that you were upset about the pictures, but I need to let you know something and you need to listen. You don't realize exactly how torn up Zac is about all of this and it's your fault." At hearing this, Vanessa gave him a questioning look.

"_My_ fault?" she repeated incredulously. "Dylan, how is this _my_ fault?"

"Because you won't talk to him," Dylan pointed out to her, trying to keep the tone of his voice even. "Look, I'm tired of having to watch Zac wallow because he doesn't know what you're thinking or what you're going to say to him when you two do talk, or if you're even going to blow up at him! I mean, Ness, I love you, but we never know how you're going to react to things."

"Dylan-" she tried to interrupt him once more, and once more, she was kept from doing so with his hand in her face. Trying to hide her smile, she lowered her eyes to the floor and looked at her red toenails.

As Zac turned off the water and reached for a towel, he heard the familiar notes coming from his girlfriend's ipod.

"_I got a feelin', that tonight's gonna be a good good night…"_

Smiling to himself and rolling his eyes, he finished drying off and stepped out of the shower onto the bath mat. It wasn't until he walked in the direction of the closet that he heard voices from downstairs. As he slipped on a pair of boxer briefs and sweatpants, he walked out into the hallway and stood near the railing, looking out into the foyer and spotted his brother and his girlfriend who was looking at her feet with her arms crossed over her chest.

_What the hell are you doing, Dylan?_ he thought to himself. He stood there for a moment, leaning his forearms on the rail and listening to the one sided conversation.

"Ness, Zac is hurting. He doesn't know how to approach you and he's terrified that you're going to end things with him. All because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He can't help that he's hot-"

"Did you just admit that you have a man crush on your brother? Dylan, Dylan, Dylan…" she clucked her tongue and shook her head at him. "I'm surprised. I never would have taken you for that type." Zac tried to hold in his laughter at his girlfriend's quick come back.

"Will you stop interrupting me and let me talk? I'm trying to defend my brother!" Vanessa couldn't help but imagine Dylan at age five, stomping his foot at his mother when she told him no at his begging for ice cream before dinner, failing to hide her smile this time. "What's so funny?" he demanded, noticing her smirk.

"Nothing, continue," she told him, waving her hand in his direction. However, before he could continue, another voice joined in their conversation from above.

"Just keep in mind that while I do appreciate you coming to my rescue, little

brother-" Zac started, causing Dylan and Vanessa to both look up and take notice of him as he started walking down the stairs, "Van and I are adults and can handle our own relationship. I'm glad you felt such concern that you had to become the voice of reason, but it really isn't necessary." As he approached Vanessa's side, Zac leisurely threw his arm over her shoulder, showing his brother that everything's okay.

"You mean…" Dylan looked at the two of them and noticed the look of contentment on their faces. "You talked to him?" he asked Vanessa.

"I did, we're fine, and you need to leave." She pulled herself away from Zac's side and approached Dylan. She reached up and put her hands on Dylan's shoulders, turning him around, and walking him toward the door.

"But… but… but what about…" Dylan stuttered.

"Bye, Dyl. Thanks for the visit. Talk soon," Zac said, as he held the door open for his brother to exit through. "Oh, and one more thing," Zac said, causing Dylan to pause halfway through the door way and look at him. "Don't ever admit to anyone ever again that you think I'm hot. That's just weird."

Dylan opened his mouth to respond to that, only to be pushed through the door by Vanessa. "Bye, Dylan!" she called out to him as Zac slammed the door. The two of them turned around- Zac throwing his left arm around Vanessa's shoulders once again- and started walking toward the stairs, leaving Dylan standing on the porch, watching them through the window in the door.

"You guys have fun!" he called out through the door, watching as Zac lifted his hand off her shoulder and waved in his direction over his head. Dylan watched through the side window as they continued their way up the stairs, turned to walk down the hall, and disappeared from sight, closing the bedroom door behind them. "I was just trying to help…" he said to himself as he walked down the stairs of his almost sister-in-law's porch.


	9. Chapter 9

_First of all, let me just say thank you so much for all the support on this story. Now let me say that I'm so incredibly sorry I've drug it out as long as I have. It certainly was not my intent. I meant to have it completed and the final chapter posted about a month or so ago, but life happened and kind of took my joy with it. This is the final chapter and I want to thank everyone for sticking with it and not giving up on me. Love you all! Smooches!_

_I still don't own anything. I just "borrowed" names and places. The story line is the only thing that is mine. Enjoy!_

_**Chapter 9**_

After their encounter with Dylan, the couple made their way back upstairs and Zac immediately made himself comfortable on the bed with the television remote while Vanessa stood near the door and shot him a look.

"What?" Zac asked innocently, taking note of the semi glare she was sending him.

"Zac, you aren't even dressed yet!" she said pointedly as she came to stand next to his side of the bed.

"What time is it?" he asked her calmly for the second time since he'd been at her house that afternoon. She craned her neck so she could see the alarm clock that sat on the other side of the bed.

"4:48," she told him, reading the blue numbers that were staring back at her.

"Then I'm good. Just give me the twenty minute call and I'm good." Vanessa just looked at him, trying to hide her smile. The two lovers shared a brief stare down before Zac broke the silence, with a smirk on his face. "You'd better hurry. You need to finish your make up."

Vanessa rolled her eyes and turned on her heel with a huff, throwing out a "Fine" over her shoulder in his direction. She made her way back into the bathroom and finished the job she had started moments earlier with her makeup, taking special care to make sure her eyes had the smoky look that she was hoping to achieve. She then pulled a black hair tie from the drawer and pulled her hair over her right shoulder, fastening it into a loose pony tail. Taking a step back, she examined herself in the mirror. Deciding that something was missing, she pulled her Revlon hot rollers from the cabinet and plugged them in, knowing that it wouldn't take but just a minute for them to heat up. While she waited, she walked back into the bedroom to get her strapless bra and panties set from her lingerie chest, and smiled softly at the sight that greeted her.

There, laying on the bed with ESPN playing softly on the television, was her boyfriend asleep with Shadow and Simon curled up near by. The toy poodle was laying on the pillow next to his head and his own Siamese was laying on his bare chest. Despite the many tiffs the two animals seemed to find themselves in, they always managed to come together when it came to their love for their owners. Once she removed her undergarments from the drawer, Vanessa went back into the bathroom and set them down on the counter, exchanging the silky, lacy pieces for her iphone and walked back into the bedroom, quickly snapping a picture of her boyfriend and their pets.

_Just too good to pass up,_ she thought to herself as she walked back into the bathroom. Noticing the blinking green 'ready' light of the curlers, she started putting three into the bottom few inches of her ponytail before glancing at the clock in the bathroom. Noticing that it now said 5:07, a quick decision was made. She stepped into the silky pieces of fabric that would serve as her underwear for the evening and retightened her robe as she gave the twenty minute warning that her boyfriend had requested.

"Zac," she called out from the doorway of the bathroom. When he didn't stir, she then walked into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. She reached out to gently run her fingers through his almost dry hair- which she just knew from experience would be sticking up in every direction when she finally managed to get him up. "Zac," she tried again. "You'd better get up. We've

got-" she paused as she looked at the clock on the bedside table and did the mental math. _5:09_. "-twenty-one minutes. You'd better get up." Still no response. "Zac, I'm not wearing any underwear." Zac's mumbled response was her clue that it was time to take matters into her own hands, so she leaned down to press her lips to his and slowly ran her tongue along his bottom lip. His hands reaching up to hold her in place told her that her mission was finally accomplished. She was finally able to pull herself away and softly told him the two words that seemed to cause him to jump into action: "Twenty minutes."

Zac opened his eyes and took a look around. He noticed the highlights of the previous day's Dodgers game on ESPN and turned off the television set. Turning to look at the clock, he felt the presence of the two animals.

"Where did you two come from?" he asked, causing Simon to lift his head to look at Zac's face. Taking note of the fact that his owner had finally paid attention to him, the Siamese gently made his way up Zac's chest and left lazy licks along his chin.

"Alright, Simon, back off. That's my job," Vanessa reprimanded, picking up the cat and setting him on the floor. Simon gave her a disapproving look, turned around, and pranced out the door in true Siamese fashion, with his tail straight up in the air. "Eighteen minutes, Babe," she called to him as she made her way back into the bathroom to remove the hot rollers. She then ran a comb through the slight curls that were left and spritzed them with a small amount of hairspray. Pleased with her hair and makeup for the evening, Vanessa then walked into the closet to put her dress on. She was struggling with her zipper in the back when she felt the hands that she had long since memorized cover hers and stop her in her struggles.

"Let me help you," he whispered sensually into her ear. His warm breath tickled her neck and she immediately felt the familiar tingle run down her spine. As he pulled the zipper up, he stayed in position and ran his hands down her arms in an attempt to fight off the goose bumps that were covering her flesh as he placed gentle kisses down her neck and across her bare back. Somehow, from somewhere deep down, Vanessa managed to find the courage to swallow her desire and turned in his arms to look in his eyes. She took note of the fact that in the time she'd been in the closet trying to get her dress zipped up, he had fixed his messy hair with some gel, meaning all he had to do was put on his suit and shoes. She sat down on the ottoman in the closet and reached for the black peep toe heels that would complete the dress she had chosen for the evening.

"Later!" she reminded him while pointing a finger in his direction. "We don't have time for that!"

"C'mon, Baby. You know you want to."

"Zac, we're not five!" she argued as she slipped the shoes onto her feel. "You're not trying to convince me to steal a cookie from the cookie jar. You're not going to get me to succumb to peer pressure."

"Then why do you have that look in your eyes?" he challenged.

"What look?" she asked, as she stood back up.

Zac gave her his sexy smirk as he approached her slowly, causing Vanessa to take a step back. As hard as she tried, she couldn't deny the darkened hue of his eyes. His sex look, as she often called it. Seeing the look in his eyes that she knew all too well, she started feeling the familiar tightening deep down in her core. He continued his approach until she backed into the wall and he had her caged in with his arms resting against the wall on either side of her head. He leaned in until his mouth was just inches from her ear and his voice once again took on the sexual tone that she loved- the one he reserved especially for her. She closed her eyes as she took in the whispered words he spoke.

"The look of sex. The look you get that tells me and only me that you want me just as badly as I want you. The look that you save for me just as I'm about to make you scream out my name." As his voice trailed off, he once again placed kisses against her neck, this time taking time to suck on the left side of the slender column that she left wide open for his attack by her choice of attire for the evening- just hard enough to get his point across, but yet gentle enough to not leave a mark for tonight. When she brought her hands up to rest on his bare, chiseled chest in attempts to keep from falling to the floor in a Vanessa puddle and let out a soft sigh, he knew that she was very close to giving in.

Or at least, so he thought. Little did he know that her words would soon throw water onto the fire that was burning within his veins.

"Zac?" she breathed out with desire.

"Mmm?" was his simple response, not removing his mouth from his current spot.

"Zac?" she spoke again- with a little more control this time- as she gently pushed against his chest, causing him to remove his mouth finally. Zac just gave her an uncertain look as she spoke with a shake of her head. "The kids. So help me if you make us late…" she said as she walked out of the closet just in time to hear the doorbell ring through out the house. "Charles is here anyway. Hurry up and get dressed." Zac watched as she walked from the closet, grabbing her purse, bracelet, and earrings on her way out.

"You're right, Babe. The kids would mind if we're late. Charles however-"

"No!" she called out over her shoulder as she walked out of the bedroom door and began the trek down the steps to answer the door and let their favorite chauffeur in while they waited for Zac to emerge- hopefully dressed. "Get. Dressed. Now!" Zac laughed at her motherly ways as he reached for the starched white shirt and pulled it from the hanger.

"Hi, Charles!" Vanessa brightly greeted their driver for the evening, stepping back to allow him to enter through the door.

"Mrs. E," Charles greeted her in response, using the nickname that somewhat bothered her when most people used it. Charles, however, had long since entered their little private bubble of bliss, so he was the only one that could call her that and not irk her nerves. He leaned in and Vanessa accepted the hug that he always gave her. "How are you this evening?"

"I'm doing well, thank you. How are Linda and the kids doing?"

"They're great. Thanks for asking. Linda always gets excited when I tell her I'm driving you and Mr. E around. Speaking of Mr. E…" he almost nervously let his voice trail off, which led Vanessa to understand his unspoken question.

"Zac is here and everything is fine. We talked earlier this afternoon and we got everything straightened out. No worries," she reassured him and took notice of the look of relief that came over his face and he seemed to visibly relax.

"Well, then where is he? Are you ready?"

"I am ready and Zac should be down in-"

"Fifteen seconds!" the duo heard being yelled from just above their heads. They looked up and saw Zac rushing from the bedroom, tie untied and hanging around his neck and jacket in hand. Vanessa noticed that he was struggling with his tie and smiled slightly at the familiar look.

"Leave the tie alone and concentrate on walking. You won't be any good to anyone tonight if we have to take you to the hospital instead because you fell down the stairs of my house because you were fussing with the tie and not paying attention to where you were going. I'll help you with it in the car."

"Yes, Mom," Zac joked in response, causing Vanessa to roll her eyes. As she turned back to face Charles, something caught Zac's eye and he inwardly cringed. _How am I going to bring this one up?_ he thought, trying hard to come up with an excuse in advance. Fortunately for him- or _un_fortunately for him, in this instance- he wouldn't have to be the one to bring it up.

"Hey, Mrs. E, what's that on your neck?" Charles asked, pointing to the left side of her neck.

"What do you mean?" she asked, instinctively bringing her hand up to feel her neck.

"There's something on your neck," Charles pointed out, chuckling slightly and ignoring Zac frantically waving his arms behind his girlfriend's back, trying desperately to get their chauffeur to stop with the questioning that would only lead to him getting in trouble. As she moved over to the mirror that was hanging next to the foot of the stairs near the door, she noticed a small mark starting to make it's appearance on the left side of her neck. Her eyes widened and darkened with anger as she slowly turned to face her boyfriend. Charles took a step back into the safe zone, while Vanessa approached Zac.

"You!" she exclaimed with a finger pointed in his direction.

"What?" Zac asked simply, feigning innocence. Charles watched the exchange with amusement.

"You did this," Vanessa said, punctuating her statement with a poke to his chest as she threw her small black clutch into his hands and frantically tugged at the rubber band in her hair, releasing the ponytail.

"Not on purpose!" Zac struggled to defend himself, hoping that his hormones hadn't caused him to ruin the mood for the rest of the evening.

"Whatever," Vanessa huffed. "You're lucky this is small enough to hide," she told him, as she pulled her hair over the left side of her neck and quickly replaced the rubber band. She studied her appearance in the mirror before taking her purse from his hands. She released a sigh and shot him a look of annoyance. Zac smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders.

"You love me?" he asked hopefully, causing Charles to chuckle once more.

"I'd better," Vanessa retorted, before breaking the 'annoyed character' trait that she was trying hard to hold in and rolled her eyes at Zac and gave Charles a smile.

"Baby, I'm sorry," Zac tried once more.

"Yeah, yeah," she said as she walked up to the security system and punched in the code on the keypad. "Let's go." Zac placed a gentle hand on the small of her back and she leaned up to place a gentle kiss on his cheek before the three exited the house.

Once they were situated in the limousine and Charles had expertly pulled away from the curb, Zac leaned over to press a gentle kiss to Vanessa's temple.

"I'm sorry about the hickey. It wasn't intentional. I was trying to be careful."

"I know," she said softly, bringing her hand up to cup his cheek. "I think we were both getting a little carried away." She gently started stroking his lips with the pad of her thumb. "But we've got to watch ourselves. It would be one thing if we weren't going to be surrounded by kids, but-"

"-we don't want to give them any kind of show. You're right. That means you have to keep your hands to yourself tonight. Are you going to be able to manage that?"

"_Me?_ You're the one who was trying to get it on in the closet! The question is can _you_ keep _your_ hands to _your_self?"

"Baby, I don't know what you're talking about," Zac told her, feigning ignorance.

"Oh, please! You were so perving earlier!"

"Yeah, you're right. But can you blame me? I mean, come on! Look at you!" Vanessa shot Zac a look, with a slight blush adorning her cheeks. "All joking aside, though, Babe," Zac started, his voice instantly taking on a more serious tone, "you look amazing tonight. Absolutely stunning. And as always, I'm in awe over the fact that I get to be the guy who's lucky enough to have you on his arm."

"Thank you," she told him sincerely.

"You were talking earlier about how amazed you are that I chose you? Well, my love, to say the feeling is mutual is a complete understatement. I have guys commenting all the time about how lucky I am. You are the most beautiful woman and every day I am blessed to be able to wake up to see your face first thing and it takes my breath away, every time. I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming and-" Zac paused as the emotions overtook him and lowered his eyes to look at her other hand that was resting on his thigh. Feeling Vanessa begin to stroke his cheek again in comfort, he swallowed and continued, bringing his brilliant blue eyes up to stare intently into her chocolate ones "-and I can't believe that it's me that you chose. Not the other way around. I love you so much, Vanessa, and I don't ever want to imagine my life without you in it." He leaned down to place a gentle, loving kiss to her lips and she allowed him to linger for a moment before pulling back and resting her forehead against his.

"I love you, too, Zac. So much." She placed another brief kiss to his lips and as she pulled back and cuddled into his side, she knew that everything from the past several days would be merely memories and they would be okay. And tonight, when they returned back to her house, she planned to show him exactly how okay they would be.


End file.
